For What Reason
by marsh king's daughter
Summary: Sora has always been the friendliest boy at school, getting along with everybody he meets until he runs into Riku Sugisaki, the most popular boy at Destiny High. But when feelings develop, complications arise, threatening to separate the two boys forever.
1. Chapter 1: First Impressions

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 1: **_First Impressions_

"Sora! Hey Sora! Wake up you idiot, we're gonna be late for school!" said a blond teenager, trying to wake up his twin brother who was still buried deeply under the covers, blissfully unaware of the other's presence. Roxas tried again, calling his name louder and lightly shaking him by the shoulders. Still, the sleeping boy's only response was to curl up tighter in his bed, and the frustrated blonde finally pulled the blankets off completely, startling his brother awake.

The brunet half opened his azure eyes to peer up at the annoyance who called himself his brother. "Whassa matter, Rox?" mumbled the boy sleepily, his voice sounding a bit odd from just being woken up.

"Well clearly you've forgotten, but today is our first day of high school and if you don't get downstairs in 5 minutes then I'm leaving without you, got it?" replied Roxas, walking out of their bedroom without another backward glance.

Startled, Sora shot up, sparing only a split second glance at his alarm clock before scrambling off the bed and hurriedly grabbing his new uniform from the closet. Then he scurried off towards the bathroom, fumbling with the buttons of his white collared shirt on the way. He got dressed quickly, knotting his plaid necktie clumsily before grabbing his toothbrush and scrubbing his teeth furiously.

_How could I have forgotten the first day of school?_ Sora thought miserably, rinsing his mouth and splashing cold water on his face before pausing to look in the mirror. His hair was a lost cause, cinnamon brown spikes sticking out in every possible direction, without a single trace of hair gel. Not that Sora minded, seeing as how he had about 30 seconds to meet Roxas downstairs before getting left behind and being tardy on his first day.

He took the stairs two at a time, mumbling a quick thanks to Roxas who was holding out his book bag for him at the landing, and quickly pulled on his shoes. The blonde was already heading out the door and Sora hurried after him, casting just a brief glance of longing towards the kitchen, wishing that he could've at least grabbed a piece of toast. However, he knew there was no time for breakfast, and he didn't want Roxas to leave without him.

The truth was, he knew that Roxas wouldn't be any keener on that idea than he was, although the blonde would never admit it. Although Sora and Roxas were identical twins, the only difference in their appearances being their hair, their personalities were almost complete opposites. Roxas was shy and quiet, and easily got angry or sad, while Sora was always the friendliest person in school, innocent and cheerful. Together they balanced each other out fairly well, Roxas becoming a bit more talkative towards others when Sora was around, and Sora calming down a bit from the ball of energy that he usually was.

Sora was aware that the first day of high school would probably be hard on his twin, even though they would know many of the students from their middle school class. Roxas usually had trouble making friends, but Sora, on the other hand, was like a people magnet. He had always been popular, not exactly in the "cool" sense, but simply because he was so likeable. There was rarely a person Sora met who he _didn't_ get along with.

Thankfully the walk to Destiny High was a short one, and the brothers arrived earlier than Sora had expected, seeing that there was still a fair amount of students filing in through the gates. Sora, better at dealing with crowds, took the lead, making sure that Roxas was following him closely. They found their homeroom fairly easily and walked inside. It looked like most of the class was already there, many people clustered around the desks in large groups, catching up after the summer break.

Glancing around, Sora caught sight of a familiar redhead and called out happily to his best friend.

"Kairi!" grinned Sora, weaving through several of his classmates to reach his friend near the back of the room, Roxas trailing behind. As soon as they reached her, Sora was pulled into a tight squeeze from the girl, who pulled back after a moment to smile up at him happily.

"Hi, Sora, Roxas!" she said cheerfully, waving at Roxas. "How was your summer?"

"Pretty good," replied Sora. "It's great that we ended up in the same class."

"Yup," agreed the girl. "I heard that Selphie's in our class, too, but I haven't seen her yet."

"Oh…maybe she overslept?" At Sora's comment, Roxas snorted loudly and Kairi stared at him curiously.

"It took nearly 10 minutes for me to wake Sora up today," explained the blonde. "Apparently he completely forgot that summer ended." Roxas smirked.

Kairi giggled as Sora punched his brother's arm playfully. "Oh, look! There's Selphie!" Kairi said happily, waving towards the small brunette girl who had just walked through the door. Selphie waved back when she saw them, and hugged them all briefly as she greeted them, before turning to Kairi with an excited gleam in her eyes.

"Okay, Kairi, you'll _never_ guess who I saw in the hallway on the way to class," she said, giggling slightly and flipping her hair.

"Who? Who?" asked the redhead excitedly. "It wasn't…oh my gosh…you didn't see _him _did you?!" she squealed, voice practically raising an entire octave at the end. Sora and Roxas exchanged helpless glances. Great. It was a _girl_ thing.

Selphie paused for dramatic effect, and then, in a stage whisper, she leaned forwards slightly and said, "_It_ _WAS."_ At this, Kairi shrieked, and both girls began jumping up and down, waving their arms wildly and drawing several stares from their classmates. Finally they settled down a bit and Kairi brought her voice back down to a human pitch.

"So…? Was he really like the rumors all said?" Kairi said in a hushed voice, eyes alight with fascination.

Selphie gave a dreamy sigh. "He was _better._"

Finally, Sora could stand it no longer. "_**Who**_?"

"Sugisaki _Riku_," chimed both girls simultaneously, before glancing at each other and bursting into another fit of giggles.

"Like that helps at all," grumbled Sora. "So who is this guy?"

"The hottest, smartest, most athletic, guy in all of Destiny High. He's only a sophomore and he's practically _famous_," said Kairi.

"Yup. _Everybody_ knows him. He's even got his own fan club," added Selphie.

"I'm _so_ joining it," sighed the redhead.

"_Way_ ahead of you, Kai," giggled Selphie. "But what I'd really want is to actually meet him. The only person who always stays by his side is that red-haired guy, Axel, I think it is. They've been best friends since they were like kids or something, but other than him, Riku doesn't really stay with one person. I mean, he never even keeps a steady girlfriend, although everybody says he's made out with nearly the entire female population of Destiny High at one time or another. And," she said, giggling again, "apparently he's gone farther than that with nearly _half_." Both girls blushed and Kairi squealed again.

"What do you find so appealing about a _playboy_?" asked Roxas, sounding rather disgusted. Sora couldn't blame him.

Selphie sighed. "But there's the part of him that's such the typical perfect, popular type, and then there's the _bad boy_ side."

"It's just so _mysterious_," finished Kairi. The brunette girl nodded furtively. But before the girls could continue gushing about this _Riku_ person, or the guys could try to tell him how stupid that sounded, the bell sounded and their homeroom teacher walked into class. The four sat down next to each other, the girls still stifling giggles and Sora wondering mildly what the guy had to look like to get reactions like _this_, before the teacher began his introduction and class began.

oOoOo

Classes had passed by fairly quickly for Sora, falling easily back into the routine of school. The only real differences between high school and middle school so far were that classes were bigger, and everywhere he went, people were whispering about "Sugisaki Riku". Even _guys_. There hadn't been anyone like that in middle school. In fact, _Sora_ had probably been the closest thing, and he had been nothing compared to the way people talked about this guy.

The brunet had begun tuning out the conversations about "Mr. Popular" coming from the girls, hardly listening as they wondered excitedly if he had the same lunch period, making their way towards the cafeteria. In fact, Sora clearly hadn't been focusing on a _lot_ of things, because halfway there, he realized he had left his bento in his locker.

Excusing himself from his friends and brother, Sora hurried back through the hallway, beginning to run once he was sure that everybody was already inside a classroom and the halls were empty. He was almost to his locker, and was rounding a corner when all of a sudden he collided into something large and warm. Not some_thing_, but some_one._

The brunet fell backwards and landed on the floor none too gently, although his small body clearly had not been enough to impact the person he had run into. Sora glanced up at the other student, ready to apologize profusely for the embarrassing accident, but when he caught sight of the other's face he suddenly forgot how to breathe.

Aquamarine eyes were staring down at him, a rather amused looking glint in them at the sight of the much smaller boy who had rammed into him. His features were somehow delicate yet startling at the same time, set in oddly pale skin for someone who lived on Destiny Islands. Silky locks of silver hair reached just past his shoulders, and long bangs slightly covered those breathtaking eyes.

He was much taller than Sora, and clearly stronger as well, muscles visible even underneath his uniform. And even though he was wearing the exact same thing as everyone else, somehow it just looked _different_ on him, fitting him perfectly and suddenly make Sora self conscious. In his hurry to get dressed that morning, his tie had become loose and crooked, shirt hanging out slightly, giving the smaller boy a rather messy appearance. And he had just crashed into this incredibly perfect boy.

And somehow Sora just knew. He knew that this…this _godly_ person, was the one of all the rumors. This was Sugisaki Riku.

The silver haired teen bent down slightly, offering a large hand to Sora, who was still sitting on the ground and feeling rather dazed.

"You okay?" God, even his _voice_ sounded perfect somehow, and he had only uttered two words.

Sora blinked. "Y-yeah. Sorry about earlier, I wasn't really watching where I was going and I didn't think there was anybody in the hallways since class has started and so I didn't think I'd run into you and I'm really sorry and," Sora was babbling, his brain not functioning properly with the breathtaking boy's gaze locked intently on him. "A-are you Riku?" he questioned shyly, realizing how rude he sounded but feeling the need to ask anyway.

The older boy smirked. "I didn't realize that even the freshman boys know who I am on the first day of school…I guess I'm even more famous than I thought. Or perhaps you're just interested in guys…?" he trailed off suggestively, smirk increasing at the expression on Sora's face.

When Sora didn't respond, mouth gaping open slightly as he stared at the other boy, Riku continued. "So…you want an autograph or something, kid?" he asked, clearly enjoying this.

_Who the hell does this guy think he IS?_ The smaller boy lifted himself up angrily, ignoring the proffered hand and drew himself up to his full height, which still didn't come up very high next to Riku.

"Excuse me, '_Sugisaki-san', _but I am _not_ gay, I _don't_ want your fucking autograph, and my _name_ is SORA," the brunet replied testily, surprising himself by the sudden and intense feeling of dislike towards the boy.

Instead of Riku getting mad like Sora had expected, he simply chuckled. "Well then," he said in a low voice, bending down until they were at eye level. "I hope I'll be seeing you again soon," he continued, leaning in to whisper into the younger boy's ear. "Sora-chan." Sora could feel the warm puffs of Riku's breath on the back of his neck, tickling the small hairs there and despite his anger he could hear his breath hitch and could tell that he was flushing horribly. Riku chuckled again, low and melodic in the boy's ear, tickling his skin. Then he pulled back from the crook of Sora's neck, straightened the brunet's crooked necktie in one fluid motion, and left without another word, smirk still in place.

oOoOo

**Author's Notes**: Tada my first chapter of my first fanfic. I know that this chapter was kind of slow, but it was just necessary introductions and all that jazz. Bleh. Hopefully the next will be better, and I promise it'll have lots more Riku .

Since this is my first story, I would greatly appreciate reviews of any kind. If you honestly hated it, then tell me you hated it (and please give me reasons why) so that I can work on improving my writing. But please, please, please give me some feedback. People who do will get cookies

Oh and the last name "Sugisaki" was something I read in another fanfic used for Riku and when I was typing his name it just popped up in my head and wouldn't go away. I can't remember which fic it was though, so if you're reading this, I hope you don't mind me borrowing it and feel free to take credit.

-Sankyuu,

Emmy-chan


	2. Chapter 2: Mr Popular

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 2: **_Mr. Popular_

Riku Sugisaki strode into the cafeteria, feeling hundreds of eyes boring into his back as he got in line for food, choosing to ignore the obvious whispering and stares. After all, the silver haired boy was used to this by now, and it probably would've felt weirder _not _to have the attention.

He had never particularly stood out as a kid, although he had always made decent grades and such to please his parents. It wasn't until his last year of middle school when his hormones started kicking in that people began noticing him. Well, _people_ really just meant girls at first. After returning from summer vacation about half a foot taller and quite a bit more muscular as well, girls were suddenly all over him, squealing whenever he looked their way.

At first, Riku didn't quite know what to think of all the attention, and simply continued his life as normal. But soon, even guys started taking notice of him, probably wondering what all the girls were fussing about. And then, whenever he would receive the top grade on a test, or score the most goals in a soccer game, people would start coming up to him and congratulating him. People he barely _knew_. And oddly, it just felt normal all of a sudden, these strangers complimenting him. It felt _right._

And so he began making sure that it would always be him receiving everyone's admiration. He started studying harder, training harder, joining sports teams and various clubs, and soon his flock of fans had multiplied. Only a couple months after entering high school, even the seniors knew who he was. And they admired him as well. _Him_, a freshman.

The part that Riku was most unsure about at first was the confessions. Somehow, they had become almost a daily thing, and girls who he was sure he had never even _seen_ before were asking to be his girlfriend. He turned the first few down shyly, but when word about them had started spreading around the school, his classmates were urging him forward, telling him that a guy like him _had_ to have experience with girls.

And soon Riku realized that the girls felt the same way. Barely any of them knew him, or were even _interested_ in getting to know him. All they wanted was to be able to tell their friends that they had just made out with the famous _Riku_. And by the end of the year, an enormous number of them had.

But despite the endless number of admirers, Riku really only had one _friend_. His name was Axel, a tall, eyeliner wearing, fiery redhead who truthfully looked a bit odd next to his silver haired friend. The two had known each other since they were little kids, and instead of Axel taking advantage of Riku's popularity like many had expected, he had actually become angry, thinking that Riku would replace him for his new found glory. However, once Riku had convinced the redhead that he was still his best friend no matter what, they made up and Axel accepted his friend's new lifestyle.

To tell the truth, Riku would easily trade in the adoring fans for a few more friends like Axel. But ever since he had become so popular, everyone only wanted to talk to him for that reason. Guys would want to look cool being with him, and girls would easily accept a one night stand just to squeal about it to their friends the next day and be added to the endless list. He could never find someone who simply wanted to be with him, all fame and glory aside.

Grabbing his tray, Riku glanced around the cafeteria for his friend, easily spotting his bright red hair, sitting alone a few tables away. It was an unspoken rule that nobody besides Axel could sit with Riku at lunch, unless personally invited. Riku walked towards their table and sat down, the group of girls at the table behind him squealing and giggling.

"Hey," greeted the redhead in a nasally drawl. "What took you so long? Something good happen?" Axel raised an eyebrow suggestively.

Riku chuckled. "Well, something _interesting_ happened." Then he recounted what had happened in the hallways with the tiny brunet.

"Well it certainly is a rare occasion for you to find someone who _hates_ you, although I can't exactly blame him after what you said. But God only knows you could use someone to knock you down a few pegs," Axel said teasingly.

"Ah, and here he comes now," said Riku, pointing towards the cafeteria door where Sora had indeed arrived, clutching his bento and still looking rather flustered.

"Sora _Hikari_ is the one who hates you?" Axel asked, watching the boy curiously as he looked around the lunchroom, presumably for his friends.

"Since when do you know the _freshmen_?" Riku asked his friend incredulously. "Are you interested in him?" he asked, wondering why he felt a bit unsettled by this. After all, he had long ago accepted his friend's sexual preference.

"Ever since freshmen started coming in the form of cute blondes. Actually, it's his _brother_ I'm interested in," replied Axel, smirking.

The two friends watched as Sora waved at someone behind them, spotting his friends and setting off towards them. As he neared Riku's table, however, he locked eyes with the silver haired boy who was still staring at him. Sora flushed and glared icily at the older boy for a moment before looking away altogether and starting to walk by in a huff. But Riku wasn't about to be ignored so easily.

As Sora walked past their table, Riku reached out and grabbed his upper arm, receiving a startled gasp from the brunet, who began struggling against the other boy's strong grip as soon as he realized what had happened.

"Hello, Sora-chan," said Riku cheerfully. "Would you care to join us for lunch?" Both Sora and Axel gaped at the silver haired boy, speechless. Sora recovered first.

"That's so…nice of you to offer, _Sugisaki-san_, but I really should go sit with my friends. They're waiting for me," Sora said, straining to keep his voice polite as he jerked his arm from Riku's grasp. No matter how strong his dislike towards the older boy was, Sora couldn't help but feel that he should at least act _civilized_. After all, it was Sora. How could he have the heart to be cruel to anybody?

Now Axel spoke up. "Invite them over, too, then. I'm sure they wouldn't mind moving a couple tables over, right?" he asked. To the brunet, it simply seemed like a friendly gesture from the older boy, but Riku knew he had ulterior motives. The only one he _really_ wanted to be sitting with was Sora's brother.

Sora faltered, knowing that he had no argument for that. Kairi and Selphie would probably die of happiness if Riku even _looked_ at them. He didn't want to think about how they would react to eating lunch with him. "Thanks," he mumbled to the redhead, avoiding eye contact with Riku. "But I really should get going."

He knew he was completely screwed when he saw Kairi and Selphie's eyes practically popping out of their heads as he approached them, however. "Hey guys," he said with a strained smile as he sat down. "Sorry it took so long, I, uh, got lost," he lied. But it was no good.

"Sora," breathed Kairi, eyes still wide as saucers. "Were you just talking to _Riku?_"

"Riku?" repeated Sora slowly, pretending to have forgotten the boy he had heard about all morning as he stalled for time. "Ohhh, you mean that silver haired guy over there? Um yeah, he was just uhm…" the brunet trailed off dumbly, mind racing as he attempted to make up some reason for the upperclassman talking to him.

"Tell us everything he said. In his _exact_ words," whispered Selphie, now leaning across the table towards Sora. Kairi was quick to do the same, while Roxas simply watched him curiously.

Sora sighed. Due to his severe lack of creativity, he would just have to tell them the truth. "Well, I ran into him earlier in the hallway," _Quite literally_, he added mentally. "And so he was just inviting us to sit with him today…but I'm sure he was just being polite and everything, I bet he didn't _actually _want me to eat with him," Sora said quickly, although his lame excuses were quickly drowned out by the shrieks coming from the two girls, who were already standing up and grabbing their trays.

_Oh no…oh no, oh no, oh no…what were they DOING?_ Sora cringed, knowing that he had made a horrible, horrible mistake. "But, see, I already turned him down so I don't think we should go over there now," tried the boy desperately.

"Just tell him you changed your mind, then," Selphie giggled. Even Roxas stood up.

"Roxas," Sora hissed, grabbing his brother's arm. "We are _not_ going over there," he pleaded quietly, hoping that the blonde would see the desperate look in Sora's eyes and save him somehow.

"Let's go, Sora. We shouldn't keep him _waiting_," said the blonde with a devious smirk. _Probably revenge for this morning_, Sora realized, his last chance slipping away from him.

"Right," grumbled the boy, grabbing his bento box and resisting letting loose a string of expletives at the end. There was nothing he could do now anyways. Hopefully the silver haired boy would regret ever inviting Sora and his friends over(he suspected that Kairi and Selphie would be _awful_) and he would never have to eat lunch with the older boy again. It wouldn't be _too_ bad for today, right? After all, lunch was nearly over at this point.

Still, Sora couldn't help the strong sense of dread he was feeling as he reluctantly led his friends over to Riku's table. The older boy caught sight of them and smirked at the brunet before leaning over to say something to Axel, who turned around and grinned at them.

Sora stood awkwardly at the head of the table, staring at the boys' food rather than at Riku as he began to speak. "I, uh, well my friends wanted to sit with you, so…is this still okay?" he mumbled, cheeks turning slightly pink.

"Of course it is. It's such a pleasure to have the chance to get to know all of you. Please, have a seat," Riku said genially, smiling at them. Selphie and Kairi both looked like they might pass out at any second, while Sora merely gaped at the older boy, dumbfounded. Why was he suddenly acting all perfect and polite, when just ten minutes ago he had called Sora _gay_? Was this just another way to make fun of him as well?

Scowling, Sora sat down next to Axel, choosing to be as far away from the silver haired boy as possible. Roxas sat down next to the redhead as well, leaving the girls to sit on either side of Riku. This seemed to suit them just fine, and they excitedly introduced themselves to the boy, babbling away while Sora barely listened, stabbing a piece of omelet angrily. It continued much the same way, Kairi and Selphie bombarding Riku with questions, who answered them easily, not seeming to mind sharing his personal life with two girls he had just met. Occasionally the older boy would turn his attention to Sora though, asking him simple questions about what he thought of high school so far, to which the brunet would mumble a short response, never once looking at him. Sora knew exactly what the silver haired boy was doing now. If he ever tried to tell Roxas or his friends about the incident in the halls, there was no way they would believe him after seeing the perfect display Riku was putting on now.

After what seemed like an eternity to Sora, the bell finally rang, signaling the end of lunch. But his relief was short lived, because to his complete and utter horror, Riku did the unthinkable. He invited them _back_.

"Well, I really had a lot of fun today. It's always nice getting to know my underclassmen. I hope that you'll join us again tomorrow…?" Riku asked, looking only at Sora. The brunet did not, _could_ not, respond in his horrified state, but the girls squealed their thanks and goodbyes to the upperclassman. Roxas said goodbye to the older boys as well before heading out of the lunch room. Sora said nothing and trailed along after his brother, wondering what he had ever done to deserve such a thing.

Surely, this wasn't high school, but _hell_.

oOoOo

**Author's Notes**: Yay, chapter two is out already! Unfortunately I didn't get to put in a part that I wanted because it worked better to end it this way. So this chapter was another short one, but the good news is that I've got part of the next one written already, which means ch. 3 should be up within a couple of days. I'm hoping to get two more chapters out before the dreaded start of… (dare I say it?) _high school_. After that, it'll probably be much longer in between updates so I'm trying to write as much as I can now.

Special thanks go to: **animeobsession**, **EcstasyOfSesshoumaru**, and** pichu10176**, my very first reviewers! You all get cookies now. I hope you enjoyed this one, too, and I hope I got it out fast enough for you to not throw trout at me? O.o lol

-Emmy xoxo

Click the button. You know you want to.


	3. Chapter 3: Misconceptions and MakeUps

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 3: **_Misconceptions and Make-Ups _

For the first time in his entire life, lunch became Sora's most dreaded period. And the reason…? Just a certain silver haired boy who went by the name of Riku.

Every day since they were first invited, Sora was dragged along to sit with the two upperclassmen. The brunet knew that trying to convince Kairi and Selphie not to sit with the older boy was a lost cause, so he never said anything, just scowled quietly down at his food in the farthest seat from Riku. Although Riku always kept up a perfect façade around Sora's friends and brother, there was no missing the subtle jabs he took at the younger boy. The smirks he sent only in Sora's direction (everyone else only received the full force of a charming smile), and the seemingly innocent remarks like, "Why on earth don't you have a girlfriend with these two lovely ladies around everyday?" to which Kairi and Selphie each flushed a dark red and collapsed into a fit of giggles, which was a common reaction nowadays. For Sora, however, it only made his scowl increase, and it was becoming more and more difficult for him to bite back the angry retorts on the tip of his tongue.

For someone who was often called "a walking beam of sunshine" by his classmates, Sora's personality did a complete 180 during lunch. Of course, Kairi and Selphie were oblivious to everything in the world except for Riku, and Roxas's attention was often focused on Axel, who was always starting a long conversation between the two of them. It was odd, really. Roxas was so quiet that it usually took a long time for him to open up to anybody new, but he seemed to have warmed up to the redhead in just a matter of days. When Sora wasn't busy thinking up ways to "accidentally" ruin Riku's perfect features, he would wonder about this. As much as the brunet wished that his brother wouldn't like their predicament either so that maybe he could convince him to move, he _was_ happy that Roxas seemed to have found a new friend.

Therefore, the only one who noticed the brunet's gloomy behavior during lunch was Riku. But the silver haired boy had never known Sora to act any other way, with the slight exception of blushing and stuttering during their first meeting. He had just assumed that the younger boy was always quiet and moody, so it came as a surprise when he heard differently.

"Heyyy, how come you always let those two freshman girls sit with you at lunch, Ri-ku?" pouted a brown haired girl named Yuna, who was resting her head on Riku's chest. It was Friday afternoon, and the silver haired boy decided that after a week of classes, he deserved to take a break, sneaking up to the rooftop with two of his classmates. He never had trouble keeping his perfect grades, anyways.

The blonde girl who was sitting on the other side of him momentarily paused in fingering his silvery hair, frowning at him. "Yeah. You've never let us sit with you at lunch before. What's so great about _them_?" said Naminé, clearly under the impression that Kairi and Selphie were not deemed "worthy" enough to be invited there by Riku.

"Nothing, really. I was just helping out my buddy Axel with that blonde kid, Roxas. The girls just kinda came along for the ride," lied Riku, not wanting to sound as interested in the small brunet boy as he actually was.

Yuna made some kind of non-committal noise. Axel had made it very clear that he was going to be completely open about his sexuality, and while nobody at school said anything against it, the two friends were both in agreement that it was probably because of Riku. Nobody wanted to get on his bad side, after all.

Naminé changed the subject. "That spiky haired kid is really cute though, y'know, Blondie's brother. All I did was hold the door open for him the other day and he gave me the most adorable smile I've ever seen in my entire life," she giggled, resuming her stroking of Riku's hair.

Yuna sat up abruptly, startling Riku. "Oh, I know! My friend Tidus is in his class, and when I've gone in there a couple of times he's just seemed like such a little _sweetheart_! Tidus says he's really friendly, and that he gets along with just about everybody! If he didn't seem so naïve, he'd probably give Riku a run for his money," giggled the brunette.

Riku frowned, puzzled by the girls' comments about the blue eyed boy. He had sat with the boy during lunch everyday this week, and not _once_ could he recall the brunet ever smiling. Had they made some kind of mistake? Or did Sora really hate being with him that much?

Suddenly the silver haired boy got up, much to the dismay of the two girls. He glanced at his watch. _5 minutes until school ends_… noted Riku. If he headed back down now, he could probably catch the brunet before he headed home. He quickly kissed both girls on the cheek before muttering a goodbye and heading down the stairs. He wasn't quite sure _why_ he needed to see the boy so badly, but for some reason he had to know, had to see for himself if the girls had been right.

He arrived outside the 1st year classroom just as the final bell rang. The students began gathering up their belongings and saying goodbye to their classmates before going home. Riku peered inside, and somehow his eyes were immediately drawn to Sora. His breath caught in his throat at the sight. In place of the usual scowl or flush, the brunet's face was lit up with a dazzling smile, a look of such simple happiness as he waved goodbye to a large group of people clustered around him.

Slowly the underclassmen began to trickle out, many of them pointing and whispering when they noticed Riku standing outside their door. Sora was one of the last ones to come out, and when he did the older boy caught him by the wrist and dragged him slightly farther from the door. The brunet looked too startled to be angry and he looked up at Riku with wide eyes. Riku was dimly aware that Sora hadn't looked him in the eye since the first day he met. The realization made him only that much more uneasy.

"I need to talk to you about something. Can I walk you home?" Riku asked, his voice sounding strange to himself. _What exactly was wrong with him?_

Sora stuttered slightly as he replied, and he never took his eyes off of the older boy. "U-um, Rox has club activities and I-I told him I'd wait…"

"I'll get Axel to walk him home, then. He has to stay late, too, and I'm sure he won't mind. If I go get him, will you wait for me by the gate?" Riku implored, not really trying to do a favor for his friend but simply feeling like he _had_ to take Sora home. He had to talk to him, and it needed to be as fast as possible.

The brunet shifted uncomfortably, and looked like he was going to turn down Riku's offer. But before he could open his mouth to argue, the silver haired boy released his grip on Sora's wrist and moved his hands up to cup the smaller boy's face instead. Then he leaned forwards slightly so that they were at eye level. "Please?" he asked softly.

Sora's cheeks turned a rosy pink and his breath came out in short little puffs that Riku could feel mingling with his own. Finally, he looked down at his feet and nodded meekly.

Riku sighed in relief and dropped his hands. "Then, I'll just go find Axel. Wait for me, okay?" he insisted, not entirely sure that Sora wouldn't run off without him while he was gone.

Then he sped off down the hall, leaving Sora staring dumbly after him. It wasn't until the brunet gathered his thoughts and turned to head outside that he realized about half the school was still standing in the hallways, watching him curiously. He flushed and began walking towards the door, staring steadily at his feet the entire way.

oOoOo

5 minutes later, Sora was standing outside the school gate, wondering exactly what the hell he was doing there. _Waiting for a conceited upperclassman who does nothing but make fun of me to walk me home,__** that's**__ what, _thought the brunet, absentmindedly scuffing the ground with his shoes.

A voice somewhere in his head, probably the one that had been talking the most this past week, told him to run for it. The older boy only liked teasing him, and what would he need to talk to Sora about after school anyways? That must be it, it was probably just some kind of elaborate prank that the silver haired teen had set up. He would leave Sora waiting there for awhile, and then eventually he would show up and claim that Sora was in love with him or something because he had waited for so long.

But there had been something about Riku's expression, some pleading and genuine look in his eyes that kept Sora glued to the spot. It was the first time Sora had ever seen so much emotion in them. They were empty when he flashed charming smiles at the girls, empty when he talked to his classmates in the halls. The most the brunet had ever seen in the boy's aqua colored eyes was maybe a glint of amusement when he watched Sora. But this, this had been something _entirely_ different.

And for some reason Sora just couldn't get the way the silver haired boy had gazed at him so intently out of his head. The way he had cupped Sora's cheeks so gently, the way he had leaned forward until their faces were merely a couple of inches apart, almost as if…

_GAH! What's wrong with me?!_ Sora thought, his heart beating wildly and cheeks burning as he shook his head to clear away those images. He glanced at his watch. _Ten minutes…_and then there were still the people milling around aimlessly, glancing between Sora and the building's entrance every couple of a seconds, whispering excitedly to each other. What were they all waiting for anyways? Surely it wasn't so rare for Riku to walk home with somebody…?

Sora sighed and straightened up from his leaning position against the wall. He just couldn't take the uneasy fluttering in his stomach any longer. He would apologize to Riku tomorrow and make up some excuse for leaving, and then the older boy could just tell him whatever it was at lunch. But today, he just needed to go home and clear his head.

But just as he was about to leave, a large hand planted itself on his shoulder. Startled, Sora turned his head to look at the older boy who was doubled over and panting, one hand still clutching his shoulder for support while he lifted the other up in a "stop" motion. The brunet waited patiently for Riku to catch his breath, and finally the silver haired boy straightened up and released his grip, still panting slightly.

"Sorry…Axel…hard to find…looked everywhere," Riku struggled to say in between deep breaths. "You waited," he said suddenly, as if realizing it for the first time.

"Erm, yeah…it seemed like whatever you have to say is important so…" Sora mumbled guiltily, knowing that if the older boy had been just a couple minutes later he would've been long gone. "Should we…go then? All these people watching us are kind of making me uncomfortable," the brunet said, gesturing towards the countless pairs of eyes resting curiously on the two boys. _Not that being alone with __**you**__ will be much better,_ Sora thought miserably. Why hadn't he left when he had the chance?

"Lead the way, then," said Riku, breathing normally now. The two boys left the school grounds together silently, Sora walking a few steps ahead of Riku. They stayed that way for a couple minutes, until Sora could take it no longer, half just wanting to break the silence, and half strongly curious about what it was Riku was going to say to him.

"You wanted to talk to me about something…?" Sora prodded, glancing back at the silver haired boy who had somehow trailed a few feet behind and appeared to be lost in thought. Riku blinked, startled, when he heard Sora's voice. Then he noticed the distance as well, and he took a few long strides to catch up to the smaller boy.

Both of them stood still, facing each other as Riku began. He gazed intensely into Sora's azure eyes, and then, thinking of no subtle way to jump into the conversation, asked simply, "Do you hate me?"

Sora's jaw slackened, and he blinked twice, not quite sure if he had heard correctly. Whatever he had been expecting, it hadn't been _this_. "W-what?"

"You…whenever you're with me you always seem so quiet and miserable looking. Before, I just thought it was normal for you, but today these girls in my class were talking about you. Saying how you were always so friendly and cheerful, stuff like that. At first, I thought they had made some kind of mistake, mixed you up with someone else maybe. But then, I saw you in class…and you looked so _happy_. But you…you've never smiled at me, not _once_. Do you really hate being with me that much?" Riku said, suddenly voicing things he hadn't even known he'd been thinking. And why was his heart thudding in his chest so loudly?

Sora's breath caught as he was once more met with an expression he had never seen on Riku's face. And this one just seemed so sad, so…_lonely_, that Sora couldn't bear to look at it. "W-well, I don't…I don't know! All you ever do is make fun of me, but around everyone else you're all charming smiles and polite responses! How am I supposed to _like_ you when you always act like that towards me!" Sora practically yelled, wiping furiously at his eyes. How on earth could he start crying at a time like this, in front of _Riku_?

Silently, Riku knelt down on the ground and gently brushed a long finger under Sora's eyelashes, catching the newly shed tear. "I'm sorry," he murmured softly, but genuinely. "It's just…to tell you the truth, I wasn't sure how else to act. Everybody except Axel only sees me as 'that popular guy'. And for some reason, when I met you I wanted you to see me differently, not as the 'popular Riku', but just as _Riku._"

"Well if 'just Riku' is a complete idiot, then you've done a pretty good job," grumbled Sora, and to his surprise Riku laughed loudly. And at the sound, Sora couldn't help the smile he felt cross his lips as well.

"Ah! You…you're smiling! At me!" exclaimed Riku, laugh turning small and shaky with relief. Then he grabbed the boy's wrists, tugging him gently down to the ground with him before wrapping his arms around Sora's smaller frame in a tight hug.

"H-hey! What're you-!" Sora gasped, shocked by the sudden embrace from the older boy. But Riku was so _warm_, and for some reason having those strong arms wrapped around him felt comforting and…_right_. When it became clear that the silver haired boy wasn't planning on letting him go any time soon, Sora awkwardly returned the hug, shyly leaning his head against Riku's chest so that the older boy wouldn't see him blush as he did so. They stayed like that for a moment until Sora, growing a bit uneasy with just how comfortable he felt there, let go of Riku, who did the same when he felt the brunet pulling away.

For a moment, they just sat across from each other in silence, both completely embarrassed by what had just happened. "S-sorry about that…I'm not really sure what, uh, came over me just now," Riku was the first to speak up, his cheeks slightly pink as he avoided Sora's gaze.

"You're blushing," stated Sora bluntly, pointing to Riku's face.

"W-well so are you! And it's rude to point!" The older boy replied childishly.

"But I've never seen you blush before. I've never seen a lot of your expressions before today, actually," mumbled Sora.

Riku sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I guess neither of us have really been ourselves these past few days."

Sora nodded. "So…what now, exactly?"

Riku lifted himself off the ground and replied slowly, dusting off his palms. "Well…if you'd like, I was kind of hoping we could start over?" Then, once again he offered his hand to Sora.

Sora smiled. "Yeah. I'd like that." And this time, he took it.

oOoOo

**Author's Notes:** Gah! Two chapter releases in one day! That's just sad O.O But really, it's my last week to have so much time to write, so I guess it's a good thing?

I must say that I had very mixed feelings about this chapter. Due to getting carried away, my carefully planned story outline has just gone down the toilet, and everything seems a bit rushed now. But on the other hand, I was worried about the story moving too slowly with the last two chapters. Where is the happy medium, I ask you!

And somehow, Riku came out completely OOC. hehe. But hopefully it was cute…? Anyways, despite all of my complaints, I had a lot of fun writing this one, and it's my favorite so far. Cuz now they can be friends! Yay! And after they're friends, a lil summin more…and then comes…THE PLOT TWIST! dun dun dun! Well, if I can even call it that due to the severe lack of plot this story is suffering.

And now to end my ramblings that really are not worth reading, (I'm not quite sure why I'm even writing them) I would like to take a moment to thank the lovely people who reviewed the last chapter: Once again- **pichu10176** and **animeobsession **(I'm glad you're still enjoying it!) and my new reviewers- **Elle-Sempai **and **Nate River18**. And possibly two more? Hmm my stats page says I have 9 reviews but I can only see 7 of them, so sorry if I missed you! Plus anybody else who takes the time to read my story…I love you even if you don't review (although I wish you would! hint, hint… yes, I know, I'm the master of subtlety, aren't I?)

Much love and cookies from the lovely Emmy-chan


	4. Chapter 4: Kisses and Uncertainties

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 4:**_ Kisses and Uncertainties _

The rest of the walk home was a fairly quiet one. It wasn't exactly an uncomfortable silence, but neither boy really knew what to say after everything that had just happened. After a few minutes each spent lost in their own thoughts, they arrived at the brunet's house. Sora stopped at the foot of the walkway, while Riku was so preoccupied that he didn't even notice until Sora tugged gently on his sleeve.

"Um…it's here. Thanks for taking me home, and, uhm, for everything, really," the younger boy said softly.

"No problem. I'll see you Monday, then…?" Riku said with a smile.

"R-right. See you later," the brunet stammered. _Why did Riku's smile unnerve him so much?_

But for some reason, the silver haired boy just stood there, making no move to leave. "Uh, Sora?" Riku asked.

"Y-yeah?"

"You're still grabbing my shirt," the older boy said, pointing to where Sora's fingers were indeed still clutched around the fabric. The brunet flushed and quickly released his grip, laughing nervously.

"Ahahahaha! S-sorry about that! Must've not…realized it…Um, bye then!" Sora stammered, turning around and walking quickly up the steps to his house before he had a chance to embarrass himself further.

As he opened the door, Riku called out one last goodbye and the brunet glanced back to see the tall boy waving to him. Sora waved back shyly, and then watched the silver haired boy turn around and walk back in the direction they had come from, waiting until he was out of sight before he stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

oOoOo

An hour later, Sora was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling and recalling the events of this afternoon when Roxas stormed in, face red and expression unreadable.

"Rox? What's wrong?" the brunet asked his brother curiously as Roxas plopped down heavily on his own bed. "You look a little bit flushed. Are you feeling sick?" he questioned, stretching his arm out across the distance between the two beds to feel the blonde's forehead.

"He kissed me," came Roxas's hoarse response, and with a heavy thud the brunet rolled off his bed and landed on the floor in a heap.

"W-what?" gasped Sora, struggling to sit up. "_Who_?"

"Axel. Just now, when he dropped me off. Didn't even tell me he liked me first or anything. Hell, he didn't even bother to tell me he was _gay_ before he stuck his tongue in my mouth. Not that I hadn't heard the rumors before," said the blonde bitterly.

"H-his tongue," repeated Sora in a much higher voice than normal, feeling a bit faint. "W-what…" he paused to clear his throat. "What did you do?"

"Well I hit him of course," stated the blonde, sounding like he was telling Sora some basic fact of life, like the sky was blue or the earth was round. "B-but, Sora…I think I might…" he trailed off for a minute, pausing to sit up and pull a pillow up to cover his bright red face. "…I think I might like him," he finished in a muffled voice. He shifted the pillow down a bit to peer over it at his brother. "Do you hate me now…?" he asked quietly.

Sora immediately sprang up from the floor to sit next to his brother on the bed and hug him tightly, the pillow squishing in between them. "Of course not, Rox! I would never hate you, and especially not for something like this! All that matters to me is that you're happy…" the brunet said. Roxas leaned his head against his brother's shoulder, and Sora gently rested his chin on top of it.

"Thank you," mumbled Roxas, sniffling quietly.

"Any time," replied Sora, smiling. "But, uh, why exactly did you hit him if it's mutual?"

"W-well it surprised me…! It was just like a reflex or something, I don't know! And he should've at least told me first," muttered Roxas.

"So, are you gonna tell him on Monday, then? That you loooove him?" teased Sora. If it was possible, Roxas turned even a deeper shade of scarlet.

"Well only if he tells me first! And if he apologizes, too!" the blonde said stubbornly. Then, in a quieter voice, "It's just not fair, y'know? For him, it's so _easy_ just to kiss another guy, but look at me! I mean, I've never even had a _girl_friend before and now-! It's just…to tell you the truth, I'm _scared_."

Sora patted his brother comfortingly on the back. "But there's nothing to be scared about, Rox. As long as he loves you back, does it matter what everybody else thinks? And I'm sure Kai and Selphie will be completely supportive, too. We all just want what's best for you, Roxas. Okay?"

Roxas pulled himself out of Sora's arms and smiled, although his eyes were a bit red. "Yeah. And thanks again…for everything."

Sora grinned. "Sure. So do you wanna practicing confessing to him? Or maybe you could write a love letter or someth-" he was interrupted by a pillow smacking him across the head.

"Shut up," said Roxas, although a second later when Sora started laughing he couldn't help but join in as well.

oOoOo

The weekend barely crawled by for both boys, and the closer Monday morning came, the edgier Roxas was. By Sunday night, the blonde couldn't even sit still and Sora realized too late that they probably should've started their homework _before_ now. The brunet curiously watched his twin's routine of tapping his pencil, furiously scribbling something on the paper, staring at it for a moment (pencil still going a mile a minute), and then scrubbing at it with his eraser in frustration.

After about the tenth cycle of this, Sora grabbed his brother's hand mid-scribble, forcing him to stop. Roxas jumped slightly at the contact, and then looked up at the brunet. "What?"

"Um, just wanted to see if you're okay," Sora said tentatively. "You seem kind of…agitated."

Roxas laughed nervously. "What are you talking about? I'm fine, great, never been better!" Then he jerked his hand away and began scribbling away again.

"Rox…you know you can talk to me about anything. If something's wrong, then maybe I can do something to help," the brunet said gently.

Roxas paused, but continued to stare steadily down at his piece of paper as he began to speak. "It's just…I'm kind of nervous, y'know? About tomorrow…"

"But there's nothing to worry about, right? He likes you, too," said Sora, a bit confused.

"But see, I don't know that! We were just talking normally, and then all of a sudden he kissed me, and I just hit him and ran off! So I've been thinking, what if he was only doing it as a joke or something? I mean, we've only known each other for a _week_. It's all just happening so fast and I…I don't know if any of this is real or not. I don't even know why I'm feeling this way! It's just too soon, it's…" he trailed off, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

"Shh, it'll all be okay, Rox. Axel seems really nice…I'm sure he wouldn't do that kind of thing as a joke," Sora said gently, trying to comfort his brother.

"You think so?" asked Roxas softly.

The brunet smiled. "Yeah. I really do."

oOoOo

Roxas was a mess the next morning, eyes red from lack of sleep and even twitchier than he had been before as they made their way to school. When they arrived at the gate, Axel was leaning against the wall, looking like he hadn't gotten much sleep, either. "Hey, Sora…Roxas. Can I, uh, talk to you for a second?" he asked the blonde.

Roxas flushed a deep red and stared at the ground, unmoving. Sora gave him a gentle push forwards, saying, "Sure, Axel! He's all yours," and whispering a soft, "Good luck," in his brother's ear before making his way inside.

He walked through the halls slowly, preoccupied with thoughts of his brother and praying that everything would turn out okay. He wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings and jumped, startled, when a low voice greeted him directly in his ear.

"Gah! O-oh, Sugisaki-san, it's just you," breathed Sora, clutching a hand to his chest. "Sorry, I was kind of spacing out. What did you say?"

Riku laughed, ruffling Sora's cinnamon spikes affectionately. "All I said was good morning. Do you _ever_ pay attention in the halls?"

Sora flushed, recalling his first meeting with the silver haired boy. "Shut up! I've got a lot on my mind right now," he pouted.

They walked in silence for a moment before Riku spoke up. "Hey…now that we're um…well now that we've made up, do you think you could just call me Riku?"

"Oh! Yeah, um, sure…Riku," Sora mumbled quietly, feeling rather embarrassed for some reason.

Riku grinned. "Well, I better head off to class now. See you later, Sora."

Sora smiled back shyly. "See you."

oOoOo

Once inside his classroom, Sora made his way to his usual desk, where Kairi was waiting alone. "Good morning, Sora," she greeted cheerfully. "Where's Roxas?"

"Morning, Kai. Roxas, uh, had something to take care of this morning. He'll be here soon. Selphie's not here yet, either?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Nope, she told me she'll be late today. Doctor's appointment or something. Listen, Sora, while we're alone…there's kinda something I want to ask you about."

The brunet looked at his friend curiously. "Okay, shoot."

"Wellll…do you think I have a chance with Riku?" she blurted out.

Sora stared at the redhead dumbly. "A chance…?" he repeated slowly.

The redhead sighed. "You know…to go out with him?"

Sudden realization dawned on Sora. "O-oh! That kind of chance…" he mumbled, mentally smacking himself for being so naïve. "Um…I don't…well I don't really know, Kairi," he said honestly.

"Yeah," she sighed again. "But I mean, I heard he's never eaten lunch with other girls before! And he's always so nice to me, so I thought maybe…" she was silent for a moment, and then something flashed in her eyes. Something Sora _really_ didn't like the look of. "Hey, Sora…do you think you could maybe, y'know, ask him about me? Just kinda bring it up nonchalantly in a conversation or something…?" she asked, giving Sora the puppy dog stare.

Sora laughed nervously. "I-uh, I don't really know Kairi. I'm really not good at that kind of thing…maybe you should ask someone else?"

Kairi pouted. "But the only other person I can think of to ask is Axel! And there's no way I'm asking him…I mean I barely know the guy! _Please_, Sora. You have no idea how much it would mean to me," she begged.

Sora faltered. Despite the horrible sense of dread he felt in his gut, he did feel some sense of duty towards Kairi. After all, they had been best friends since they were little kids, and he knew that the redhead would probably happily help him if the situation was reversed. "Well, I guess I can try…" he mumbled reluctantly.

Kairi immediately threw her arms around Sora's neck, squealing, "Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU! You're the greatest friend I could ever ask for, Sora!"

The brunet tried to smile, but his mouth seemed unwilling to cooperate due to the fact that he was almost certain that he had just made a horrible, horrible mistake.

oOoOo

**Author's Note: ** Okay, so a fluffy oneshot and a severe case of writer's block later, and chapter four is out! Yay! Seriously though, I'm beginning to encounter major issues with the storyline now. Basically the only things I was certain about before I began writing this were the beginning and end, and so now I just have to figure out what the hell to put in the middle. Greeeaaat. I did have some ideas in an outline, but after looking back over it I was mostly just like "Ew, I'm not writing _that_!"

Okay, so not much progress with the SoraRiku storyline in this one (yeah I bet you were all misled by the title, weren't you:P), but that's gonna take awhile. The thing is, eventually this fic will contain my first lemon, and I absolutely will _not_ rush it. If I do, then it'll just end up being sloppy and awkward and gross, and who wants to read that? _No one. _If I'm going to be a pervert, then I'm at least going to be a tasteful one! …wait, _what?_

…_any_ways

Time for the happy-happy-thank-you-for-your-review-now-have-a-cookie corner! Or THHTYFYRNHACC for short. Catchy, I know. To the oh so lovely people who reviewed chapter 3: **pichu10176**, **EcstasyOfSesshoumaru**, **animeobsession**, **froggyeyes789**, and **Kagome1514**…thank you _so_ much for all your feedback. You guys are awesome. So eat your cookie, and then go take a lap or something. Just don't sue me if I make you fat by the end of this story.

-Emmykins

Love me, love me, say that you love me.


	5. Chapter 5: Strange Temptations

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 5:**_ Strange Temptations_

About 5 minutes later, Roxas entered the classroom just as the final warning bell was ringing. His face was bright red, and after taking his seat next to Sora he grinned and gave him the thumbs up. Sora smiled brightly back, happy that it had gone okay. Kairi shifted her gaze between the two of them curiously, but there was no time to explain as the teacher began taking roll call.

There wasn't time to pester his brother in between classes for details either, so for the first time since school had started, Sora was looking forward to lunch. After all, there was no need to worry about the Riku situation anymore, and the brunet wanted to hear about what exactly had happened between Axel and Roxas.

But the blonde refused to say anything on the way to the cafeteria when Sora tried to get the information out of him. Meanwhile, both boys were suffering the full force of Kairi's pout for not filling her in on some piece of gossip for a prolonged period of time. Both upperclassmen were at their usual table when the trio arrived, and Axel grinned broadly when he caught sight of the blonde.

"Roxie, you're finally here! I missed you," he whined, slinging an arm over Roxas's shoulder and kissing him swiftly on the cheek when the younger boy sat down.

Kairi gaped at the sudden display of affection, Roxas turned a deep shade of scarlet, and Riku just sighed, turning to Sora. "Maybe you should sit here today," he said gesturing to the empty seat next to him due to Selphie's absence. "To give the lovebirds some room," he smirked.

"S-sure," Sora mumbled, and Kairi plopped down heavily on the other side of the silver haired boy, mouth still hanging open.

"'Lovebirds?' So you two are…? Oh, Roxas, that's wonderful!" she squealed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"It, uh, kinda just happened," Roxas said, clamping a hand over Axel's mouth when the older boy tried to kiss him again, clearly at ease with flaunting their new relationship.

Kairi giggled. "It's just so nice when two people are in love," she sighed. "Don't you think…?" she asked Riku, looking up at him and fluttering her eyelashes while Sora nearly choked on his sandwich.

"Uh, yeah, I guess," the silver haired boy said, placing his large hand on Sora's back, who was still coughing and spluttering. "Are you okay?"

The brunet took a large gulp of water before replying. "Yeah, I must've just swallowed wrong or something." The truth was, while Sora had been aware that Kairi was attracted to Riku, he had never noticed her shameless flirting techniques up till now, since he had tried not to notice Riku at _all_ during lunch. And it was just an unpleasant reminder of what he had agreed to do…

"I never thought that Roxas would turn out to be gay, though," Riku mused. "Guess Axel just got lucky."

The red haired boy laughed, his mouth freed after taking hold of both of Roxas's wrists. "You know me better than anyone, Riku. There hasn't been a straight boy yet who I haven't been able to turn once I've had my eye on them."

Riku chuckled, but Sora's eyes immediately went to his brother, knowing that this hadn't been a good thing to say in front of him. "Have there been a lot of them, then? Guys before me?" Roxas asked quietly, his arms hanging limply in the redhead's grip.

Axel faltered, realizing his mistake. "Oh, Roxas, I didn't mean…" he began, but the blonde jerked his hands away suddenly, biting his lower lip and avoiding Axel's gaze. The older boy sighed and wrapped his arms gently around Roxas, pulling him close. "I have _you_ now, Roxas. And that's all that matters to me," he said, just before kissing the smaller boy full on the lips.

The three on the other side of the table blushed and began eating with renewed vigor, trying not to focus on the awkward scene in front of them. When the make out session didn't stop, however, and Roxas's soft moans began to fill the cafeteria, Riku spoke up loudly, looking for a distraction. "So, Sora, Kairi…have you guys joined any clubs yet?"

Kairi immediately began chattering away about joining tennis with Selphie, and for once Sora was grateful for her loud squeals and giggles. "How about you, Sora?" Riku asked once Kairi had run out of things to say and they were once again subject to listening to the embarrassing sounds coming from the other side of the table.

"Oh…I haven't given it much thought yet, actually," Sora told the older boy.

"Hmm…well, I could take you around to some of them this afternoon, if you'd like," Riku suggested.

"That'd be great. Thanks, Riku," the brunet said, smiling. At first Kairi looked extremely put off at not being able to spend more time with Riku, but then the familiar glint in her eye from this morning reappeared.

"That'll be nice…it'll give you guys a chance to get to know each other better. Talk about things…" she said, staring at Sora.

"Er, yeah," Sora said nervously, but his worries were momentarily melted away by the blinding smile Riku gave him.

"Then, I'll pick you up after class," the silver haired boy said cheerfully.

Sora blushed and turned his gaze back to his food. "O-okay," he stammered.

"What's this? A grand tour given by the famous _Riku_? Since when does that happen?" Axel asked suddenly, looking between Sora and Riku. Well, they had to come up for air _sometime_. But if it was possible for a human to turn into a tomato, then it had definitely happened to Roxas.

"Well…he hasn't found a club yet, so I just figured I'd help him. It's not _that _strange," Riku said, defending himself.

Axel snorted. "It is for you. You've never-," but whatever else he had been about to say was cut short by the bell, and Riku got up immediately, glaring at the redhead.

"See you later, Sora," he said sharply, and with that he walked off without another backwards glance. A few minutes later, the others left as well, Axel parting very reluctantly from the blonde. Once the older boy had gone his separate way, Kairi linked arms with Sora, looking up at him expectantly.

"So, this afternoon…do you think you could…?" she prodded.

Sora sighed. "Well…I'll _try_, Kairi, but I really don't think…"

"It's fine, it's fine!" she said quickly. "Look, even if you can't find some subtle way to ask, as long as you get an answer it doesn't really matter to me. Thanks, So-ra," she giggled, kissing his cheek.

Sora blushed slightly, wondering what he had gotten himself into.

oOoOo

Riku was already sitting in his desk, scowling, when Axel entered their classroom. The redhead sighed as he walked towards his friend, knowing that this wasn't going to be a fun conversation.

"Care to explain what's going on?" he asked the silver haired boy as he sat down next to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Riku replied testily.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Look, playing the 'big bad Riku' card on me isn't going to do you any good. You know I'll get the answers out of you eventually."

Riku said nothing, knowing that this was probably the truth. But never in a million years would he admit that to Axel.

"So? What's happening between you and your little Sora-chan?" Axel continued.

Riku stared at him blankly. "I don't know what you mean," he said finally.

"Oh come _on_, Riku. It's been strange since day one, but back then all I thought of it was that you were certainly going to great lengths just to tease someone. But you should see the way you look at him now, the way you _smile_ at the kid. It's like you're in love with him or something," he said, pausing for a moment. "Are you?"

Riku nearly fell out of his seat, his face turning the color of Axel's hair. "W-what? _No!_ I'm straight, you know that!"

"Just because you've kissed almost every girl in this school doesn't necessarily mean that. I mean, you've never actually _liked_ any of them, have you?" Axel persisted.

Riku faltered. "W-well, no, but…but it's not like I've ever liked a guy either!"

"Until Sora-chan came along," the redhead said, smirking.

"I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH SORA!" Riku shouted. Every head in the classroom automatically turned his way, a mixture of curious whispers and giggles filling the air. Then he got up angrily, gave Axel the finger, and stalked out of the classroom, ignoring the stares he felt on his back the entire way out.

oOoOo

Riku went up to his usual spot on the roof, hardly caring about missing more classes. He didn't want to be anywhere near Axel right now, or anybody from his sophomore class, for that matter.

"_…you should see the way you look at him now, the way you __**smile**__…"_

_ "It's like you're in love with him…"_

"God damn it," he breathed, running a hand through his hair and sliding down the wall into a sitting position. For some reason he just couldn't get Axel's voice out of his head, nor could he stop thinking about the brunet. The way he smiled…the sound of his laughter…the way he would blush so cutely whenever he got embarrassed…

Riku sighed in frustration. Wasn't he just over-thinking everything because of what Axel said? Yes, surely that was it. After all, he had never once questioned his sexuality before now…

"Ri-ku? Are you okay?" came a voice, interrupting his thoughts. Riku looked up to see Naminé standing there, blue eyes looking down at him with what was clearly fake concern. It was nothing compared to what he could see in those deep azure eyes, so filled with emotion…

"I'm fine," he replied, matching her fake concern with a fake response.

"Good," the blonde said, joining him on the ground and settling between his legs. "Because now that we're alone…" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in closer…but her pale skin felt oddly clammy on his, unlike the warmth that had come from the brunet when he was in Riku's arms, his smaller body somehow molding perfectly against the older boy's…

Riku desperately tried to chase these thoughts away, but they lingered in his mind as Naminé kissed him, and he couldn't help but imagine how perfect it would be if it was Sora instead…

oOoOo

Riku didn't show up to any of their classes the rest of the afternoon, and by the end of the day Axel was feeling a bit guilty for taking it so far. He walked down to the freshman classroom, hoping to find his friend there and apologize before taking Roxas home. But both twins were still waiting in the hallway when he arrived, and the silver haired boy was nowhere in sight.

"Hey," he said, kissing Roxas on the cheek. "Riku's not here yet?"

"No," the brunet responded, sounding puzzled. "Wasn't he with you?"

"Uh, he kind of ended up skipping the last few classes," Axel explained. "He's probably just up on the roof or something. D'you wanna wait until Riku gets here, Rox?"

"Sure," the blonde replied. And so the three of them waited there as five minutes passed, and then ten…eventually they moved back into the empty classroom, sitting down and staring at the clock.

When fifteen minutes had gone by, Sora said in a quiet voice, "Maybe he just forgot…"

"No! I mean, uh, there's probably just some girl who won't get off of him or something…I'm gonna go use the bathroom, I'll be back in a minute," Axel lied, leaving the classroom and walking down the hall a bit before pulling out his cell phone. He dialed Riku's number, cursing under his breath as the phone rang countless times. Finally, the answering machine picked up, and after Riku's message played, Axel began talking angrily into the phone.

"Look, Riku, I know you're mad at _me_, but don't take it out on Sora! He's been waiting for you for almost twenty minutes without a single word of complaint, but if you don't get your sorry ass over here _now_, then I get the feeling that you're going to lose whatever the hell it is you have with him! Fucking idiot," he muttered as he snapped the phone shut.

He walked back into the classroom, noticing the way the brunet looked up hopefully at the sound of his footsteps only to have disappointment wash over his features as he realized who it was. None of them said anything, and they sat there in silence for five more minutes until Sora spoke up once again.

"Maybe something important came up…I think we should just go home," he said, a fake cheerfulness in his voice and a stiff smile plastered on his face.

"Five more minutes," Axel said through gritted teeth. "Let's just give the bastard five more minutes…"

Sora and Roxas's eyes widened, but neither of them said anything. Time ticked slowly by, and Axel was beginning to wish that he had just taken the boys home much sooner. If Riku didn't show up now, then it would just hurt the brunet that much more…

But with one minute to spare, the silver haired boy burst through the door, breathing heavily and eyes wide as he took in the three boys still waiting there. Axel stood up abruptly and yanked Roxas up as well, taking the blonde's hand in his own. Then, after muttering a goodbye to Sora, he brushed roughly past Riku, who was still standing in the doorway. Roxas glanced back at his brother, trying to protest to Axel but the redhead continued pulling him along down the hall, leaving Sora alone with the older boy.

Both of them just stared at each other for a moment, Riku still panting for breath. Then the brunet spoke, false smile still in place despite the stinging he felt in his eyes. "Oh good, you came! I was starting to get worried that something had happened…" he said, standing up. "We should get going, though, if we want to see all of the clubs before they're over," Sora continued, his voice sounding strange to himself as he walked over to the door, dropping his gaze downwards.

But to his surprise, Riku reached his arms out on either side of Sora, pinning the smaller boy between him and the wall. "Why didn't you just go home?" the silver haired boy asked in a harsh voice, although his eyes betrayed him, aquamarine orbs filled with a sadness that Sora had seen once before.

"Because I wanted you to come," the brunet said quietly, dropping the false emotion from his voice.

"So you just believed that I would?" Riku asked. "I'm not that nice of a person, Sora," he said bitterly.

Sora blinked rapidly, trying to stop the tears that were threatening to spill over now. "But you did," he said softly.

"Yeah, and I'm only here to tell you something, Sora. I was wrong before…when I told you I wanted you to see the actual me. It's better if you just stay away from me," he murmured in a pained voice, and then he pulled away and walked out of the classroom, leaving Sora staring after him with tears now streaming freely down his cheeks.

oOoOo

**Author's Notes:** Nooo, Riku you idiot! –smacks- Well despite everything in this chapter being _completely_ spontaneous, it was a lot of fun to write. That's right people, since I don't know what to include in the middle of this story, I'm pretty much just winging the next few chapters. If you're not scared, then you probably should be.

**VampireBallerina**, **Kagome1514**, **pichu10176**, and **EcstasyOfSesshoumaru**, thank you all once again for reviewing my story. Since I can't _always_ give you the good stuff, today you get…100 calorie oreo packs! –looks down at package- Seriously though, who can stoop so low as to call these things _oreos_. They don't even have the friggin cream, and that's like the best part. Without it, these are just like little chocolate graham crackers with sugary guys on top…Aw, who am I kidding, I love you guys too much to give you this crap. You get real oreos instead. Double stuffed. You fatties :P

-Kiss me, I'm Emmy.


	6. Chapter 6: The Consequences

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 6:**_ The Consequences of our Actions_

Riku walked down the halls quickly, wanting to put as much distance as possible between himself and the awful thing he had just done. He wasn't even quite sure what had come over him. All he knew was that he had had to put a stop to the raging emotions before they became too much, before he lost control and hurt Sora even more…

He wasn't sure what would happen if he let it continue, but he knew that he couldn't allow himself to do anything to destroy that innocence, that carefree smile…Maybe they could've become friends, but what would happen if Riku couldn't hold back anymore? Sora would hate him, would call him disgusting and never talk to him again, and it would hurt so much worse than what he was doing now. So he would do whatever he could to protect Sora now, even if it meant hurting them both in the process…

The silver haired boy told himself over and over again that he had done the right thing, that he was saving Sora by doing this…but his chest ached painfully as he recalled the look of hurt in those blue eyes, tears brimming over. He had wanted so much to just brush the tears away like he had done before, to apologize over and over to the brunet for causing him any pain. But he knew that it was too late. He had done the damage, and now he would just have to wait…wait for Sora to move on, to make other friends and forget about him, to fall in love…

He stopped walking and leaned against the wall, shutting his eyes against the unfamiliar stinging in them. He just wanted this to all be over…wanted everything to go back to normal. Just him and Axel, and meaningless girls on the roof…back to the way life was before he ever knew these feelings…before he had to fight against them. It was all too much, and for the first time in many, many years, Riku felt the odd sensation of a warm teardrop falling down his cheek…

oOoOo

Sora wasn't sure how long he stayed behind in the empty classroom, sliding down to the ground and pulling his knees close to him as he sat there, his small body trembling as he cried. It all felt rather surreal to him, like this was just part of some bad dream that he would soon wake up from. But Sora knew that the ache in his chest was enough to tell him that he wasn't dreaming.

He didn't understand it, though…why everything hurt so much. Had he and Riku even had anything to begin with? Looking back on it, Sora didn't think that they could even be considered _friends_. But why was he sitting here crying over someone who was just a mere acquaintance to him? Why did he feel a painful tug on his heart every time he played Riku's last words over in his head?

"_It's better if you just stay away from me."_

If he barely even knew the silver haired boy, then why did it matter so much to him that he might never see Riku's smile again? He might never hear his laugh again, might never look into his aquamarine eyes again and see the emotions that Riku hid from everyone else. He might never be held in those warm arms again…

Abruptly, Sora pulled himself up, wiping at his eyes. If Riku meant this much to him, then why was he just letting him go without a fight? Why did he let the older boy say those things to him without even asking for an explanation? Surely, Riku wasn't the kind of person to do that without a reason, even if it was a stupid one…

Sora glanced up at the clock quickly, his heart thumping painfully in his chest when he saw that fifteen minutes had already gone by. What if it was too late…? He stumbled through the door, breaking into a run once he was in the hallway. His feet thudded loudly in the empty space, and his side began to ache as he pushed himself to go faster, praying that Riku was still there. And just when he rounded the corner into the last corridor, about to lose all hope, he spotted a flash of silver on the other side of the lockers.

"Riku!" he gasped as he reached the older boy, who opened his eyes, startled at the sound of Sora's voice. "Riku…were you crying?" Sora asked, taking in the sight of Riku's tear stained cheeks. And before the brunet even thought about what he was doing, his small fist connected squarely with Riku's jaw.

"You…you IDIOT!" Sora yelled in a shaky voice. "If this is hurting you, too, then why are you doing it?!"

The taller boy's eyes widened, and he slowly lifted his fingers up to brush the place where there would probably be a nasty bruise the next day. "Sora…," he said quietly. "For someone so small, you can certainly pack quite a punch."

"This isn't the time to be making fun of me!" The brunet said angrily. "Answer me!" He started pounding his fists against Riku's chest in desperation. Why did he have to make things so _difficult_?

"…I can't tell you," Riku replied, completely serious now. Sora's fingers clenched around the fabric of his shirt, and he buried his head against Riku's chest.

"But you _have_ to tell me," the smaller boy said in a muffled voice. "I deserve to at least know the reason you're doing all of this."

Riku remained silent, although he knew that Sora was right. But how was he supposed to tell the boy that he had just figured out he was gay, and it was because of _him_? The whole reason he had just hurt Sora was so that he would never have to find out. He had figured the younger boy would just be so fed up with Riku that it wouldn't come to this, but here they were already, the brunet's tears soaking into Riku's shirt as he pressed against him.

And he wanted so badly just to wrap his arms around Sora again, pulling him in even closer and holding him like that until all the hurt melted away. But he knew he had to resist that urge, knew that giving in would just put everything to waste. So he stood perfectly still, his arms hanging at his sides and his hands clenched into fists, knuckles turning white from the effort he put into holding back.

"Why aren't you _doing_ anything?" came the muffled voice again. "Why aren't you pushing me away, or holding me, or just _leaving_?"

But Riku couldn't do any of those things, couldn't even answer Sora. All he could do was stand there as his heart thudded even more painfully in his chest with each passing second.

Finally Sora pulled his head back, although he still gripped Riku's shirt tightly in his fingers as if holding on to it was the only thing that was keeping the silver haired boy there. "Please, Riku" he whispered, looking up into Riku's eyes.

And then Riku lost all control, ruined everything he had been trying to do, and kissed him. Sora gasped in surprise as Riku's lips descended on his and the older boy pressed him into the side of the lockers, one hand grasping his shoulder and the other moving through his spiky brown hair. Despite the countless numbers of girls Riku had done this with before, it seemed like an entirely new experience. It was clumsy and awkward as if he was doing it for the first time, yet it was just so _perfect_. It was warm and sweet and it was…_Sora_, and Riku never wanted it to end, never wanted to break away and face the harsh reality of what he was doing. He gently caressed the smaller boy's lips with his own over and over, moving his hand up from Sora's shoulder to softly cup the boy's cheek.

Finally he had to break apart for air, avoiding Sora's wide eyed gaze and pulling his fingers away from his soft cinnamon hair. Riku counted the seconds that passed with bated breath, waiting for the next punch or angry outburst to come from the smaller boy. But time went by and none came, and looking down, Riku caught sight of Sora's trembling fingers still clutched around his shirt. He pulled them apart gently, taking note of the brunet's slight jump at the contact, before he could stand it no longer and shifted his gaze towards Sora's face.

The brunet was bright red, and he looked like he could probably pass out at any given moment due to the shock or amount of blood rushing to his head. His eyes were filled with confusion, but he quickly looked away when they met with Riku's.

"That's why I told you to stay away," Riku murmured softly, a strong sense of guilt creeping through him as he realized he had just made things even worse. This was what he had been trying to _avoid_, and yet he had ruined it all not even an hour after telling the brunet.

Sora remained silent for another moment, and then he said stupidly, "I thought you liked girls."

If the situation hadn't been so serious, Riku probably would've laughed. "Well, I thought so, too."

"Then why…?" the brunet trailed off, unable to voice the rest of the question. _Why did you kiss me?_

"I-I don't know! Axel said some things earlier about me…about me seeming like I was in love with you, and I just…I just couldn't get you out of my head. And the more I thought about it…the more I felt like I really _was_. I said those things earlier to try to protect you…to keep you away from me. But, uh, I guess what I just did kind of defeats the purpose," he sighed. How had it all ended up like this…?

"L-love…?" Sora stammered, steadily avoiding Riku's gaze.

"Er, yeah…at least I think so. I've, um, never really felt like this before, to tell you the truth," Riku said awkwardly.

"Oh," was all Sora said, his face turning an even deeper shade of scarlet.

"Look, I'm really sorry! I guess I was trying to hold back too much at once, and I just couldn't keep it all in and…I can understand if you hate me now," Riku finished quietly.

"W-what? No! Um, I mean, I don't hate you, Riku," the brunet said quickly. "But…do you think you could give me some time?"

"Time?" Riku repeated, blinking.

"To, um, just…think about things?" Sora mumbled.

"O-oh, sure…take as long as you want, Sora. I mean, I really don't deserve _anything_ from you," the silver haired boy replied softly.

Then Sora focused his gaze on him again, and this time his blue eyes looked rather sad. "Riku…I know you were trying _not_ to hurt me…but when you say things like that out of the blue, then it _does_. I'm tired of this…split personality thing you're doing. One minute you're just so _nice_ to me, and then the next minute you tell me you never want to see me again. And then you k-ki…ki-," he stammered. "Well, you know! …Can't we just stay friends? O-or something," he said, looking away again.

Riku looked at him curiously. "You still want to…?"

"W-well, yeah. There's something about you…that just makes me feel warm inside when I'm with you," Sora said. "And even though we've just met…earlier I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing you again…I don't know why, though," he finished, leaving Riku staring at him dumbfounded and blushing slightly.

"Wh-what?" Sora asked defensively, feeling uncomfortable with those eyes gazing at him like that.

"Nothing," Riku replied cheerfully. "I'm just glad you feel that way." And then he leaned forwards and kissed Sora softly on the forehead before pulling away, smiling at the brunet's look of embarrassment. But it wasn't sadness, or anger, or disgust…and maybe, just maybe, Riku had a chance.

oOoOo

**Author's Note: **Um…bleh, okay I'm really not very happy with this chapter. 'Cause they weren't actually supposed to kiss yet. But I had major writer's block, could think of nothing else to put in this chapter, and they did. Oops. I promise it'll get better once this gets back onto a stable plotline. At the moment, I'm thinking the plot twist will probably come in the chapter after next, and hopefully from there on out I'll have consistent ideas of what I'm doing. Unfortunately because of school starting, though, I'll probably get one more chapter out this weekend and then no more updates for awhile (at least a week, probably more depending on the workload). I'm hoping to at least get a release out once every two weeks or so, but I won't really know for sure until I see how much homework I'm getting. Sorry ;-;

Time to thank everybody who hated Riku's guts last chapter!

Riku: -dodges lava lamp and runs away screaming from the murderous reviewers-

**EcstasyOfSesshoumaru**, **Kagome1514**, **Tysonkaiexperiment** (ooh, a new one. Don't worry, you get your own cookies now), **pichu10176**, and **animeobsession**. Lots of love to you guys. Um, I'm kind of looking more for constructive criticism on this one I guess, since I don't like it too much. But maybe you guys will? Oh well, I still look forward to seeing what my lovely reviewers think, as I always do : )

-Tralala it's…Emmy

hmm I think I just wrote my new theme song


	7. Chapter 7: Unknown Feelings

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 7:**_ Unknown Feelings_

The two boys parted a bit later, Sora politely declining Riku's offer to take him home again. So the brunet left school on his own, which suited him just fine since his head was spinning from the number of thoughts racing through it. He walked slowly, putting off the time it would take to get home since Roxas would probably notice right away that something was off. Normally Sora could talk to his brother about anything…but this was different.

His first kiss, forced on him by a boy he hardly knew. It wasn't exactly how he had pictured it, to say the least. In fact, Sora had always been rather clueless when it came to love. He had had a few childhood crushes of course, but nothing much had happened there except for a few very awkward dates with Kairi in the 6th grade. Both of them had quickly learned, however, that they were _much_ better off as friends.

Looking back on it, the brunet realized that he had never really fallen in love in the past. He got along well with everyone, but he liked most people he met equally. There had never really been anyone who he had had truly strong feelings for, who he had wanted to be with more than anything else in the world…

Absently, Sora brushed his fingers against his lips, his face heating up at the memory of what had happened. A boy had kissed him…_Riku_ had kissed him…he smiled slightly, wondering how all of the squealing girls would react if they knew that the boy of their dreams had just confessed to _him_. Then he shook his head, knowing that he shouldn't be finding amusement in any of this. After all, what was he going to say to the older boy? And how would he be able to face him without remembering…_that_?

His heart thudded painfully in his chest as he recalled Riku crying in the hallways. What if he became the cause of that soon? He didn't want to cause Riku any pain, but how would he answer the older boy, then? He didn't love Riku, did he? Sora felt his cheeks grow even hotter at the thought…It was strange, knowing that somebody was in love with him…that someone cared for him more than anything…And once again, Sora was filled with the strange warmth that he felt around the silver-haired boy. This was what puzzled him more than anything else…the feelings he got around Riku. For some reason, he had almost no control on his emotions when he was with Riku, and he barely knew the older boy. It was the first time it had ever happened to him, and the brunet just couldn't understand why…

Sora wondered how Roxas had realized his feelings so easily…he had known almost right away that he liked Axel. Was it really something so simple that you should be able to understand it right away? Even Riku had discovered he was in love with Sora in less than a day…how was it possible for them to know so easily? The brunet sighed in frustration, knowing that there was no way he could figure it all out in one night.

He had asked Riku for more time, but how long would he be able to wait? Sora wondered sadly if they would be able to be friends until he gave his answer…or afterwards…

The brunet was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Axel walking towards him until the redhead was directly in front of him and they nearly collided.

Sora blinked, startled. "Hi, Axel. Were you just with Roxas?"

"Yup…you okay?" the older boy asked, scrutinizing Sora's face.

The younger boy blushed and avoided his gaze. "Fine," he dodged, not really wanting Axel to be the first one to hear about what had happened. Although, given that he was Riku's best friend, this was probably likely to happen anyways.

Axel sighed. "Look…it's really none of _my_ business, but Roxie will probably want to know why your eyes are all red and puffy after an innocent tour of club activities."

The brunet looked up at the older boy again, surprised at the sudden perceptiveness. Usually Axel seemed so focused on Roxas that he hadn't really expected him to notice if anything was wrong with him.

"Hey…whatever happened with Riku today was probably my fault," the redhead continued. "I, uh, said some stuff to him earlier that probably got weird ideas into his head. I'm sure that he didn't really mean any of it."

Riku's confession…the kiss…had only been because of "weird ideas"? "He, er, seemed pretty serious about it," Sora said quietly.

"Well, I've gotta say if there's one thing I've learned about Riku over the years it's that he doesn't do anything half-assed. He just gets caught up in the moment, that guy. There's nothing much you can do to change his mind while it's happening, but he'll probably realize what an idiot he's been by tomorrow morning. I'm sure he'll apologize to you…and do you think you can forgive him when he does?" Axel asked the younger boy. "Riku…well he hasn't really made any friends since he met me, and that was a _long_ time ago. I don't know what it is about you that's making him do it, but he's really trying his best. Think you can give him a chance?"

The brunet shifted uncomfortably. "I…want to be friends with Riku, I really do. But…what if we can't do that anymore?" he asked sadly.

Axel reached a hand out to ruffle the boy's hair. "Come on, Sora-chan. It can't have been that bad, right? What did he do?"

Sora could feel his face heating up once again, and mildly wondered if there would be a day in the future when he _wouldn't_ be blushing over something. "He…um…well…" he stammered, staring at the ground.

"What?" the older boy prodded.

"Hekissedme," the brunet said finally, his words tumbling out of his mouth quickly.

Axel gaped, staring wide eyed at Sora. When the smaller boy didn't say anything else, the redhead muttered, "Man, maybe I really _can_ turn anybody. At this rate, the whole school'll be gay by the time I graduate."

Sora laughed weakly. "But…you said that whatever he did today, he didn't really mean. So I guess he's not really in love with me or anything," the brunet whispered, wondering why his throat suddenly felt so tight.

The older boy looked thoughtful, and didn't respond for a moment. "…Normally, that would be true. But this might just be a different case, kid. I think the guy really likes you."

"Oh," was all Sora said, his heart thumping quickly in his chest.

"And you?" Axel asked, looking at the smaller boy curiously.

"H-huh?" the brunet stuttered, suddenly unable to focus clearly.

"Do you feel the same way?" the redhead clarified, never taking his eyes off of Sora.

"I-I…don't know! I've never…this is the first…," the younger boy trailed off, feeling his eyes start to sting again. He blinked rapidly. Why was he about to start crying at a time like this?

"Hey, calm down. It's okay to be confused after everything that happened," Axel said comfortingly. "Just take your time."

"Axel…how do you know when you're in love?" Sora whispered.

The taller boy smiled, and placed a large hand over the brunet's chest. "You'll know in here. It's cheesy, I know," he chuckled. "But it's true."

"Yeah…thanks, Axel. I better get going now," Sora said, smiling at the older boy although his eyes were still watering slightly.

"Any time, Sora-chan. After all, we could be family one day," the redhead said with a wink.

The brunet laughed. "I'm sure you'd make a good brother-in-law."

oOoOo

Riku stayed behind long after Sora had left, making sure that he wouldn't end up running after the smaller boy and doing something else incredibly stupid. How could he have kissed him like that? How could he have _confessed_? Riku Sugisaki, the biggest idiot in the world.

Finally he left, at least a good half hour behind the other boy. Despite everything that happened, Riku was fairly calm. He felt as if he had done everything he could…now he just had to wait. He smiled softly, remembering the brunet's words from earlier. How the younger boy felt warm when he was around him…how Sora wanted to be with him…Was there a possibility that he might feel the same way?

It was all a bit strange to him. He had only just discovered his feelings today, and yet they felt normal to him, like he was meant to be in love with Sora. It was the first time he had ever felt this way about anyone, which was a bit surprising, given his experience with girls. But never again did he want to be with some meaningless girl on the roof. Never again did he want to kiss someone who he didn't love.

Only Sora.

No matter how worried he was about how the brunet would answer and what would happen next, Riku was happy. He felt like one of the giggling schoolgirls, sighing over boys they liked. Somehow it was comforting, being in love with someone like this. It felt right.

The silver-haired boy was smiling to himself as he opened his front door, calling to see if anybody was home. There was no response, so he nearly had a heart attack when he walked into his bedroom only to find Axel sprawled out comfortably across his bed.

Riku dropped his backpack heavily on his foot, rather shocked by the redhead's appearance. "Ouch! How the hell did you get in here, anyway?" he grumbled, rubbing his foot and glaring in Axel's direction.

"Window was open," the other boy replied easily, lazily staring up at his friend.

"Please tell me you're joking," Riku said, plopping down on the foot of the bed.

Axel grinned. "Yup. Your mom let me in a couple of minutes ago, said I could wait here for you while she went out to run errands or something."

The silver-haired boy sighed. "Good. Although I have to say that I wouldn't be very surprised if you started breaking into my house," he muttered.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" the redhead drawled, sitting up. "Look, anyways…I ran into Sora on the way here."  
"Oh," Riku mumbled, fiddling with the end of the comforter. He cleared his throat nervously. "What, uh, did he say?"

Axel sat up and scooted closer to his friend, smirking when Riku looked away from him. "That you kissed him."

Riku flushed, keeping his attention fixed on a lose thread on the blanket. "Er, yeah…It, um, turns out you were right…with what you said earlier," he said quietly.

Axel nodded furtively. "Well, of course. I'm always right about these things, you know. And…I think you might have a chance with Sora," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

Riku's head shot up, looking his friend directly in the eye now. "Really?" he asked breathlessly.

"Yup…but don't go pressuring him, got it? That kid's pure. He doesn't know what he's feeling right now, and he's got to figure it out himself. Just let him take his time, okay?" Axel pressed.

The other boy grinned before hugging his friend tightly. "I will."

"Hey," Axel grumbled, pushing Riku off of him. "I know I'm appealing to you now that you're gay and all, but I've got a boyfriend already, buddy."

Riku laughed. "In your dreams, Axel."

oOoOo

Roxas immediately shot up when he heard the front door open, scurrying off to the bathroom to fix his messy appearance. Axel had been rather…forward when the blond had invited him inside, and he didn't really want to explain to his innocent brother what they had been doing. Of course, Roxas didn't let him go anywhere near as far as the redhead had wanted, but nonetheless…

He reemerged from the bathroom just as Sora walked into their room, his eyes looking rather red and a confused expression on his face.

"Hey," Roxas said. "What's the matter, Sora?"

Sora jumped, realizing for the first time that Roxas was there. "Um…well there's something I wanna talk to you about, Rox," he said, knowing that if he had told Axel, then he definitely needed to tell his brother. But for some reason it had been easier telling someone he hardly knew, knowing that the redhead wouldn't press him much on the matter.

"Then talk," Roxas said, sitting down on Sora's bed and motioning for the brunet to join him.

"Well…it's about Riku," Sora began, not knowing if he should just jump right into it. "Er…you know what happened with you and Axel? Well, um, Riku kind of did that to me, too," the brunet mumbled, cheeks flaming. He could practically feel his brother's eyes boring into him as he said this.

"He kissed you?! Why? Does he like you? Do you like him? Are you guys going out now?" Roxas asked, hardly pausing in between questions.

"Well…he likes me…but I don't really know yet, Rox," Sora mumbled.

"Do you think you might?" the blond asked gently.

"I…well he's…ma-maybe," Sora stammered. "But it's all so sudden! I-…I just don't know. I feel so strange when I'm with him, and I've never felt this way before…but I'm not sure if it's the same as what he's feeling. I just…need more time," the brunet murmured.

Roxas put an arm around Sora's shoulder, pulling him close. "It's okay, Sora. Nobody's telling you to rush this. As long as you know for sure what you want in the end, it'll be fine," he said gently.

"Hey, Rox…what did it feel like, when Axel kissed you for the first time?" Sora squeaked out embarrassedly.

The blond's face turned bright red. "W-well, I was really surprised at first…but it was kind of soft and w-warm and it just…felt right," Roxas stammered.

"Oh," Sora said, once again reaching up to touch his lips as he recalled the way it had felt when Riku's lips had been in place of his fingers, softly moving against Sora's over and over, the older boy's entire body pressed against his… "Uh…I think I'll go take a shower before dinner to cool off a bit," the brunet said, pulling away from his brother.

"Sure," said Roxas. "…It'll all be fine, Sora, no matter what you do."

"Yeah," Sora said softly. "I know."

oOoOo

Sora was uncharacteristically silent for the rest of the evening, although Roxas could tell by his constant tossing and turning that he didn't get much sleep that night. Getting him up was once again a challenge in the morning, and together they walked slowly to school, Sora seemingly lost in thought the entire way.

When they made it to the gate however, things became truly awkward when they arrived at the same time as Riku and Axel.

"O-oh," the silver-haired boy said upon spotting the two younger boys. "Hey…" he said quietly.

"H-h-hi, R-ri…ku," Sora stammered, flushing.

Axel smirked and gave Roxas a brief kiss before pulling him along inside the gate. "See you guys later," he called, waving over his shoulder.

"S-so…nice weather today…" Sora said, smiling awkwardly.

Riku laughed. "We live on an island, Sora. The weather's nice _every_ day," he said, placing his hand on the top of Sora's spiky head, hardly realizing it until the brunet jumped, his face darkening even more so in color.

"Oh…er, sorry," the older boy muttered, quickly removing his hand.

"It's okay! It's just…um…Riku…well about yesterday…I, uh, I still need more time! So…is it okay if we're just friends right now?" Sora asked shyly.

Riku smiled at the younger boy. "It's fine," he said gently, leaning in close to Sora. "I love you…and I'll wait for you, no matter what. As long as it takes," he whispered, his sea-green eyes gazing into Sora's intensely.

Sora couldn't even respond, memories of yesterday's kiss flashing through his head once more due to Riku's close proximity. He could feel the older boy's long hair tickling his skin, and his warm breath close to his face…Unconsciously, Sora's eyelashes fluttered closed, his lips parting slightly as he moved closer to the other boy…But Riku pulled back abruptly, and Sora's eyes shot open as he realized what he had been expecting, what he had been…hoping for?

Riku reached out and gently brushed Sora's bangs out of his eyes, smiling as he did so. "Just take your time. I want you to be sure."

"Riku…I…" Sora began, but was quickly cut off by the bell signaling that it was time to go to class. "Erm…see you at lunch, then," he said instead.

"Bye, Sora," Riku said softly.

oOoOo

**Author's Notes: ** Aw, I'm sorry it took me so long to update but I ended up being really busy last weekend. I also apologize for the overall blah-ness of the chapter…just uneventful fluffiness by the crapload. But I didn't want Sora to just automatically be like "Omg Riku I love you too!"…he just seems like the clueless naïve type that would take awhile with this kind of thing, or at least that's how _I_ see him.

Okay so homework is pretty much in full swing already so updates will either come weekly or bi-weekly, depending on if I'm alive enough to write this at all when I get home. Sorry about that, but hopefully you guys are busy too and won't check for updates as much? Please keep reading, though! ;; I'll definitely get another chapter out by Sunday night though because I already started writing part of it…But please tell me if you want more SoRiku action in the next one or not…cuz most of you thought the last one was rushed(and I agree) but I don't want to keep dragging it out like this forever or it'll get really boring. So I'm leaning more towards Sora at least realizing his feelings in the next one, but please give me your opinions.

Wow lots of new reviewers this time! Yay : ) Thanks to **Smyde**, **pichu10176, Kagome1514**, **Blushed Boi, Aly the Trickster, Kaoru Koganei, EcstasyOfSesshoumaru, Muchacha, **and **Nightshade218. **Jeez I'm gonna have to start making a lot more cookies for you guys. But I'm happy that so many people are reading my story(almost 2,000 hits!). Of course, I have no idea what the typical number is, but I definitely wasn't expecting a lot for my first story, so it's very motivating to know that I have lots of readers. :) You guys are the best.

And now to answer a couple of your reviews:

**Smyde: **Wow thank you for the super long review! Well the reason why Namine is so OOC is because I didn't really intend for her to be seen as a key person in the story. She was pretty much just the character I picked at random to be "the girl on the roof". But you've given me some inspiration and I will probably bring her back at least once more later on. As for the "Riku's background idea"…very intriguing as well but I've been refraining from making families in this fic since you either 1) have to make an OC, which I just don't like in stories unless they're extremely minor roles, or 2) pop in some random characters for it…now the problem with this is if you're gonna all of a sudden say that Leon and Aerith(or Leon and Cloud…but I secretly love this XD) are Sora's parents, then you have to make it believable. Some people can pull it off, but I'm hesitant with doing it in my first fic. Maybe in the future…but not this one. Thanks so much for your ideas though!

**Blushed Boi:** Aw, of course I don't mind guys reading my story! Actually I'm really glad that it also appeals to people outside the vast majority of screaming yaoi fangirls(which I am shamelessly included in XD). And I'd definitely like to take you up on your offer of helping out…obviously there are many things that I need improvement on, so if you have any ideas or advice then please don't hesitate to tell me! This story is kind of turning into a learning process for me, so I definitely want you guys to tell me what I need to work on so that I can get better in the future. Thanks so much!

-Emmmmmy

Why do I get the feeling that one day the a/n will be longer than the actual chapter? XD


	8. Chapter 8: All I Know

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: This is a yaoi fanfic, so if you're opposed to boy x boy at all then stop reading now. Also, this story will (eventually) contain graphic scenes and slight language, so kiddies beware.

**Chapter 8:**_ All I know is that I love you, here, right now_

As soon as Sora walked into the classroom, Kairi practically flung herself at the boy. "Hey, Kai. You seem…energetic today," the brunet said, awkwardly shaking her off as he started to walk over to his desk.

"No, not over there!" the redhead hissed, nervously glancing back over her shoulder to where Roxas and Selphie were already seated. "First I want to talk to you about…well you know…" Kairi said in a hushed voice, continuing to throw glances back at her two friends.

Sora looked down at the girl blankly. "About what?"

Kairi gave an exasperated sigh as she turned her attention back to the brunet. "You asked him about me, right?"

Sudden realization came flooding back to Sora and with it, an extreme sense of guilt. How was he supposed to tell her what really happened? "Er, actually, Kai…" he began softly. "Well…I didn't really get a chance to ask him yesterday," Sora said truthfully. He couldn't lie to her…but he couldn't tell her everything that had happened either.

Kairi's face fell, and a familiar pout graced her lips. "Come on, Sora. I told you it didn't have to be subtle or anything."

"Uh, yeah…but see he was really late picking me up so I didn't really have that much time…Sorry, Kairi," the brunet said softly, continuing to stick to the truth even if it wasn't the _whole_ truth.

"Oh well…next time, then?" Kairi pressed on hopefully.

Sora made a non-committal noise, knowing that he would never actually ask Riku…because he already knew the answer.

oOoOo

Axel was rather bemused by his friend's behavior for the rest of the morning, catching Riku staring off into space with a goofy grin plastered on his face throughout every class. He wasn't the only one that noticed the change in the silver-haired boy, everyone else in their class whispering their speculations on his bizarre disposition. It seemed to raise mixed feelings, some giggling over how cute it was to see such happiness emanating from the usually cool and composed Riku, while others jealously wondered who it was that could make him turn into such a gooey blob of mush.

Of course, there was a good reason for their suspicions, although the red-haired boy was positive that Sora was most likely not what they would consider as a possible answer.

"Hey…you know, people probably won't be very accepting of you once they find out you're gay," Axel mused as they sat at their lunch table, waiting for the underclassmen to arrive.

Riku blinked, whatever daydream he had just been having melting away as he began to process what Axel had just said. Then he shrugged, cheerfully replying, "I don't care."

Axel looked at his friend incredulously. "You're practically _famous_, Riku. At best, you'll probably keep a few fans and the rest will ignore you. You're okay with that?"

"If I have you and Sora, then I don't care what anybody else thinks," Riku answered nonchalantly before his face completely lit up as he saw said brunet entering the lunch room. "Y'know…I think Sora would've let me kiss him today," he said giddily in a hushed voice, leaning across the table towards Axel.

Axel rolled his eyes. "Sometimes it's hard to believe how many girls you've been with. You're _hopeless_," he sighed. Riku just grinned, returning to his upright position as the four freshmen approached them.

The redhead didn't miss the flash of disappointment cross his friend's face as the two girls eagerly sat down on either side of him and Sora quietly returned to his place on Axel's side. Selphie and Kairi immediately began chattering away to him, but Riku's gaze never wavered from the brunet. Sora quickly noticed this as well, and mumbled a shy greeting towards the older boy before turning his full attention on his food.

In a way it was similar to the first couple days of school, although this time the tense atmosphere between the two boys was definitely not due to dislike. Rather, it was probably closer to the opposite, although Sora clearly still had uncertainties. Riku didn't seem too bothered by this, though, and was sure to flash a blinding smile at the younger boy the few times their eyes met across the table, to which Sora would turn a bright shade of red and the girls would look between them in puzzlement.

After a few of these exchanges had passed and Riku was still staring at the other boy with a mushy expression on his face, Selphie finally cut in. "Ri-ku," she pouted. "Are you even listening to us? You keep staring at Sora."

Sora nearly spat his water out across the table at the girl, while Riku flushed, apparently unaware that he had been so obvious. "Er, sorry. It's nothing," he replied, shifting his gaze to Selphie as he did so.

This didn't seem to satisfy either girl though, and Kairi pressed on. "No…there's definitely something different about you today, Riku."

Sora steadily continued to look nobody else in the eye, leaving Riku to awkwardly defend himself from the curious stares from the two girls. Both Axel and Roxas seemed to find great amusement in this, and offered no help to the silver-haired boy.

"Well, it's…I…he's…," stammered Riku, his loss of words only seeming to fuel the girls' suspicions even more.

"Did something happen between you two?" Selphie asked in a teasing manner, obviously not considering this as a legitimate possibility. This time, however, Sora really _did _spew his beverage at his friend. "Ewww…gross, Sora!" the brunette whined, immediately reaching for a napkin. "I was only joking!"

"Sorry, Selphie," Sora said, completely mortified.

Riku chuckled nervously. "Er, anyways…there's going to be a big party on the beach Friday night. Do you guys want to go?" Luckily, the girls were too ecstatic about being invited anywhere by Riku to care about his obvious change of the subject.

Sora breathed a small sigh of relief as they began squealing about what they were going to wear and who of the upperclassmen were going to be there. He flashed a grateful smile towards the silver-haired boy who returned it quickly before turning back to the girls.

The rest of the week passed much the same, and the two boys never had a minute alone together. Sora wasn't sure whether or not to be grateful for this. It gave him plenty of time to consider his feelings, but this was rather difficult to do when they barely even had time to talk to each other.

Axel and Roxas, on the other hand, seemed to be in complete and utter bliss. It was becoming increasingly awkward for Sora to be alone with the two of them. Of course, the brunet was happy for his brother, but after continuous instances where he walked in on them in the middle of rather compromising situations in their bedroom, Sora was a bit flustered around them.

And of course, being the extremely naïve boy that he was, Sora had never really given much thought to these types of "situations" before. With them now frequently occurring under his roof, however, the brunet couldn't help but wonder in embarrassment if Riku wanted to do those kinds of things…with him. The brunet decided that it really _was _a good thing that he was never alone with the older boy when he was having these kinds of thoughts.

So instead he tried to focus on the plans for the party as well, glad to have something to take his mind off of Riku. When they arrived at the beach on Friday night, however, it definitely was not what the boy had expected. Granted, he had never been to a high school party before, but he had no idea of how…_loud_ it would be. It seemed as if the entirety of Destiny High was on the beach, everyone talking noisily and dancing to the music blaring from various speakers set up around the island. There was also unmistakable evidence of cigarettes and alcohol in many of the teenagers' hands.

Kairi and Selphie seemed delighted by everything, and immediately shoved their way into the throng of the crowd to look for Riku. Roxas, on the other hand, seemed absolutely horrified and stayed with Sora on the outskirts of the beach until Axel found them a few minutes later.

There was something about the way his brother immediately cheered up as Axel pulled the blond close to him that made Sora feel rather lonely. Suddenly, he felt like he didn't belong there, getting in the way of his brother's happiness.

"Riku's over by the paopu tree," Axel said shouted in his ear, although it was still hard to hear over the blast of the music. Then, he and Roxas headed off into the crowd on their own, leaving Sora standing alone on the sand.

For a minute the brunet didn't move, contemplating whether or not he should just head home. But he knew that Roxas would be worried if he wasn't there when it was over, so instead Sora reluctantly began pushing his way through the huge clusters of people. This was a difficult task, since Sora was very small and the majority of the people there were upperclassmen. Eventually he managed to emerge at the bridge connecting to the paopu island, and he peered across it curiously. There were no lights or stereos there, and he couldn't even make out any people.

Sora began crossing the bridge, deciding that even if Riku wasn't there, it would probably be the best place to hide out for the rest of the night. However, the older boy was there, sitting alone on the other side of the bent tree. Riku looked up at the sound of Sora's footsteps, grinning when he saw who they belonged to. Then he quickly pulled the brunet down to the ground with him, looking backwards towards the bridge.

"Nobody followed you, right?" Riku asked, able to talk at a normal volume away from all of the noise at the larger island.

"I don't think so," Sora said in confusion, glancing back as well. They sat in silence for a moment, the brunet taking in his surroundings. It was relatively quiet there, and the only light came from the full moon shining down on them. He couldn't help but notice the stunning effect this had on the older boy, his pale skin glowing and his hair seeming to become an even richer shade of silver in the moonlight. Suddenly he felt at ease again, the loneliness from earlier melting away due to Riku's presence.

"I kind of expected you to be at the center of all that," Sora said, gesturing behind them.

Riku stared at the smaller boy with a strange expression on his face, and suddenly Sora was reminded of one of their previous conversations.

"_When I met you I wanted you to see me differently…not as the 'popular Riku', but just as __**Riku**__."_

"That's what everyone seems to expect," the older boy said finally. "But believe it or not, this really isn't my kind of thing."

"Then why did you come…?" Sora asked, cocking his head to one side.

Riku smiled, the breathtaking smile that was for Sora and Sora alone. "Because you're here."

The brunet blushed, hoping that it was dark enough that Riku wouldn't see, although he was almost positive that the other boy would be able to hear the heavy pounding of his heart. He was suddenly hyper-aware that they were alone and that there were only a few inches separating them.

"I used to come here a lot when I was little, to this island. It seemed like a completely different place back then, though. I never would've thought that it was used for things like this," Riku continued, distracting Sora from his embarrassing thoughts.

"Ah, me, too!" Sora said happily. "I used to love this place."

"I wonder why we never met before," Riku said quietly, his hand shifting slightly closer to Sora's in the space between them. "But somehow it feels like I've known you all my life."

Sora was beginning to find it difficult to breathe, his chest filling with the unfamiliar warmth once again. Wordlessly, the brunet inched his hand closer as well, shyly brushing Riku's with the tip of his pinky. The older boy started slightly at the touch, looking at Sora questioningly.

And suddenly, sitting there alone in the dark with Riku, everything was so clear. Suddenly, Sora understood.

"Riku, I…" Sora began. He took a deep breath. "I think I'm falling in love with you," he whispered, his blush visible even in the moonlight.

And then the distance was closed between them, Riku shifting over to hover above the smaller boy. He smiled softly, gently stroking Sora's cheek with the back of his hand. "Really?" he asked breathlessly.

Sora smiled back, his eyes fluttering closed as he leaned into the touch. "Really."

Riku grinned before planting chaste kisses all over the brunet's face, murmuring "I love you" over and over again. Sora sighed contentedly, wrapping his arms around Riku's neck to pull him closer.

Riku paused for a moment, their foreheads touching as he tried to memorize every line and contour of Sora's face, not wanting to ever forget a part of this. Then he softly pressed his lips to Sora's once more. This time he could feel the younger boy trying to kiss back uncertainly, and Riku smiled into the kiss happily. This time he wasn't forcing Sora. This time he wasn't making some awful mistake. This time, Sora loved him.

Riku settled comfortably between Sora's legs, bracing his arms against the paopu tree on either side of the brunet. Cautiously, he darted his tongue out to trace Sora's bottom lip, causing the younger boy to gasp in surprise. He took the opportunity to slip his tongue inside Sora's mouth, pleased by the soft moan that came from the brunet as he twisted his tongue against Sora's.

Finally air became such a necessity that they had to break apart, panting. Sora was blushing madly, but he didn't let go of Riku. The silver-haired boy nuzzled into the crook of Sora's neck affectionately, lightly kissing him there.

Everything with Sora felt like a completely new experience to him. He had never wanted to be like this with someone before, gentle and loving. But he wanted to make Sora happy, he wanted to take care of him, protect him, and make up for all of the pain he had ever caused the smaller boy. He would've been content to stay like that forever, in Sora's arms.

Nothing had ever felt so perfect.

oOoOo

**Author's Note: **-giggles- Okay, I don't care what anybody else thinks of this chapter, because it makes me happy. I'm such a hopeless romantic that even if it's like absolute crap, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Let me just say, though: Enjoy it while you can.

Are you all intrigued now? Good.

Plot twist will come next chapter, and then it'll be the home stretch. I'm guessing it'll end somewhere a little after 10 chapters. I must say, I've grown very fond of this little story, and I'll be sad to see it go ;-; But there'll be many more in the future, and someday I'll probably look back on this and be like, "Wow. I was the most craptastic writer in the world." XD It's a little bit sad, but it's always good to improve.

Thanks to the lovely people who have been with me since the beginning and are still reading it for whatever reason: **EcstasyOfSesshoumaru, Kagome1514**(thank you for your editing help…as you can probably tell, I don't have a beta)**, animeobsession, pichu10176, **and **Elle-Sempai**. If I've memorized the number that comes after your name, then it means that I love you.

Just to clarify, by "bi-weekly" I mean once every two weeks, not twice a week. I guess it works either way? Lol, I didn't know this until someone mentioned it and then I had to look it up to see if I had gotten the definition wrong somehow XD. I'll do my best to at least get it weekly though.

-oh noes…it's Emmy!

And everybody should listen to "Perfect Little Secret" by Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol. It was my inspiration for this chapter :)…although it really doesn't sound like it was…but it's the lyrics that were. Such a pretty song…it's sad that nobody's heard of it. So I'm spreading the love.


	9. Chapter 9: Don't Go

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: When Emmy gives you lemons…read them. That's right, folks, it's finally here.

**Chapter 9: **_Don't Go_

It was hard to keep track of how long they were alone together on the little island, and honestly, Sora didn't really care. Time seemed meaningless in this state of bliss, being held and kissed by Riku.

The brunet had never really been in want of anything before and had always considered himself to be very happy. But this night seemed to be changing everything, and he had to wonder how he had lived fourteen years of his life without Riku.

"Sora?" came a soft voice directly in his ear, licking him there.

Sora squeaked, startled out of his thoughts. "W-what?"

Riku chuckled quietly. "What are you thinking about?" he asked in a lilting voice, before planting a light kiss on Sora's cheek.

The younger boy smiled. "It's a secret."

Riku furrowed his brow, pouting. "Ehhh? Couples shouldn't keep secrets, So-ra," he said.

Sora flushed. He wasn't sure why, but hearing the word "couple" made him feel an even stronger rush of warmth inside his chest. Riku was his boyfriend…Riku loved him…

He pulled Riku close to him, shyly brushing the older boy's lips with his own. Riku smirked, not expecting the sudden initiation from the brunet. He wrapped his arms around the other's small frame, their bodies pressed fully against each other. He took control of the kiss, slipping his tongue inside Sora's mouth and fervently intertwining it with the younger boy's.

Sora moaned, knotting his fingers through Riku's hair and unconsciously spreading his legs out around Riku's waist. The older boy's eyes widened, suddenly in very close contact with…_Shit._

But at the sound of footsteps on the bridge, the two boys immediately tensed, halting their actions and then quickly breaking apart.

"And what exactly have you two been doing?" came the familiar drawl of Axel, smirking down at them and followed closely by Roxas who was scrutinizing his brother's face.

Sora flushed under his gaze, glancing sideways at Riku, whose cheeks were now tinged pink as well.

"I take it things went well?" Axel continued, when the other two didn't seem too keen on responding.

At this Riku smiled, reaching out and lacing his fingers through Sora's. "Yeah," he said softly.

Axel grinned. "Well then, I hate to interrupt, but it seems like most people are heading home now except the hopelessly drunk. Which is actually a lot of them, but still…I was going to take Roxie back, if you two want to come along."

"Sure," Riku said, sighing. "I guess it is getting pretty late by now." He got up, helping Sora along with him, their hands clasped tightly together the entire time.

The four of them began making their way back across the bridge, noticing that while the beach was still fairly crowded, there was much less dancing and much more stumbling around aimlessly.

"Have you seen Kai and Selphie anywhere?" Sora asked his brother, trying to locate the two girls somewhere in the clusters of people.

"Last time I saw them they were getting hit on by some guys in our class…and they seemed perfectly happy with it," Roxas muttered. "I don't think we need to worry about them."

Guilt prickled inside Sora when he thought of Kairi finding out about him and Riku. It must have showed on his face, because Riku leaned over, tilting his head and peering into Sora's eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly.

Sora jumped. Was he really so easy to read? "I-it's nothing. I was just a little worried about leaving them behind, that's all," he lied. He couldn't tell the silver-haired boy Kairi's secret.

"It's fine," Riku reassured, kissing Sora gently.

Sora turned bright red, glancing around nervously. "Riku! People can see us here," he hissed.

Riku smirked. "Let them watch, then."

oOoOo

Despite how late it was when they made it home, Sora couldn't fall asleep. Time continued to tick by since Riku had said goodbye, but he still couldn't get the older boy out of his head. His lips still seemed to be tingling from their countless kisses, and he felt warm all over, like Riku had somehow turned on a switch inside of him.

The brunet sighed, rolling over for the hundredth time and trying to think of something other than Riku. Something other than how warm his lips were, something other than the way he tasted on his tongue, something other than the feeling of having every inch of the older boy's body pressing into him…

It was going to be a long night.

oOoOo

Sora slept in late the next morning, thankful that it was the weekend. He wasn't sure when he had finally fallen asleep last night, but the brunet was pretty sure that it wasn't until around 3 or 4 in the morning.

Groggily he made his way downstairs for breakfast, although at this point it was probably closer to lunch. He was surprised to find his parents and Roxas still sitting at the kitchen table. They all looked up when he entered the room, and Sora felt an odd heaviness in the air.

"Oh good, you're finally awake," Mrs. Hikari said, smiling…although there was something about it that seemed strained, a kind of sad smile. "There's something we need to talk to you about…"

oOoOo

The weekend seemed to crawl by for Riku, and he quickly regretted forgetting to ask Sora for his phone number, or plan a date, or _anything_ other than just sitting around and waiting until school to see the brunet again.

By Sunday morning, Riku found his feet carrying him to the brunet's house, feeling like a complete idiot…or maybe just a stalker. Either way, the worst that could happen was Sora would be busy, right? And if there was a chance that he could just talk to the younger boy for a minute, then he was going to take it.

He rang the doorbell, waiting for a moment on the front steps until the door was opened by the brunet himself. Riku was a bit surprised by the reaction of the younger boy, expecting to be met with a wide smile or small arms being thrown around him. Instead, Sora remained stock-still in the doorway, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of Riku.

"Er…is now a bad time?" Riku asked awkwardly, suddenly feeling as if he shouldn't be there.

"N-no, it's fine," Sora said, attempting a weak smile. "Come in."

Riku followed the smaller boy inside, his sense of unease growing as he stepped into the house.

"Would you like something to drink?" Sora asked, turning back to look at him.

"Oh, no thanks," Riku replied distractedly, desperately trying to put his finger on why everything seemed so…_off_.

"Um…was there something you wanted to talk about?" the brunet tried, at a loss for what else to do.

"I just wanted to see you," Riku murmured truthfully.

Something briefly flashed through azure eyes before Sora looked away, hiding his expression. "Rox isn't home…you can come to my room, if you want," he offered quietly.

"Sure," Riku responded, carefully examining the smallest of movements coming from the smaller boy, trying to assess the situation. This wasn't the way he had expected Sora to act, after what had happened at the party…What had happened to the shy kisses, holding hands, soft "I love you"s?

He followed Sora silently upstairs and into his bedroom, the tense atmosphere still in place as the brunet sat on the edge on his bed, motioning for Riku to do the same. The older boy joined him, leaning forwards and gently pushing Sora back onto the bed, their limbs tangling as Riku began to kiss him.

Something in the back of his head was telling him that this wasn't right, that he shouldn't be doing this. He knew that he should be talking to Sora, asking him what was wrong. But when he could taste something salty and wet sliding onto his lips, he knew that he didn't want to know.

He pulled away, watching as Sora drew his arm up to cover his eyes, although he could still see the tears streaming down his cheeks. "Do you regret it?" Riku asked in a pained voice, swallowing hard over the lump in his throat.

The brunet shook his head, although he didn't move his arm, his hand clenching into a trembling fist.

"Then why-,"

"We're moving."

Riku's heart seemed to stop. His mind was trying to grasp Sora's words, but they kept slipping through and plummeting into darkness, pulling everything else along with them. All of his memories with Sora…they were so few, but they seemed to have so much more meaning than anything else in his life, and now they were being pulled away from him, just out of reach…

"W-what?" Riku choked, his voice sounding hoarse after struggling past the growing lump.

"My dad got a job transfer," Sora continued in a shaky voice. "We're moving in two weeks."

It was becoming hard to breathe, hard to stay calm and not break down. "So soon?"

A heart-wrenching sob escaped the smaller boy's lips, and he covered his face in his hands, trembling violently and trying to bite back the cries.

Riku pulled the boy into his arms, burying his face in Sora's hair as the brunet sobbed into his chest. "Don't go," he breathed.

oOoOo

Sora stayed cradled in Riku's arms for a long time, crying until he felt numb, barely registering the soft kisses pressed to his head and sweet nothings murmured into his ear. He knew that Riku was staying strong for him, so he took deep breaths, trying to calm down. The older boy waited patiently, gently stroking his hair.

"W-we can be together anyways," Sora managed to hiccup finally. "Long-distance relationships can work. We'll call lots, and I'll come back and visit, and I'll go to college here…"

"That's almost four years from now, Sora," Riku said quietly. "Can you really wait that long?"

Sora's eyes blazed. "Why would _I _be the one who couldn't wait? What about you?"

Riku smiled sadly. "You know I didn't mean it like that. Think about it seriously, Sora. Four years ago, you were _ten_. That's a long time."

The brunet didn't respond, feeling tears prick at his eyes again. He knew that Riku was right.

"Feelings change."

Sora squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight the wetness threatening to spill over.

"Maybe…we should stop now. Before it gets too hard."

"No!" the brunet gasped, cupping his hands on either side of Riku's face, where aquamarine eyes were watching him sadly. "No…," Sora murmured again, pressing his lips to Riku's. This time it wasn't just a tentative brush, it was desperate and needy, the knowledge that this could be the last time hanging in the air.

He had been waiting for the tears to slide down his cheeks, but not _Riku's_. The older boy gently but firmly grabbed hold of his wrists, pulling his hands away.

"We can't, Sora."

It felt like something was breaking inside of him. He couldn't watch Riku cry.

"D-don't cry," Sora pleaded, wiping away the older boy's tears. "Please don't cry."

A small smile graced Riku's lips. "How can I not when you are, stupid?"

"I don't want to leave, Riku," Sora whispered.

"I don't want you to leave either," the silver-haired boy sighed.

They lapsed into silence for a moment, studying each other through watery eyes.

"Riku…can I kiss you?" Sora asked softly.

Riku tensed, every part of him wanting to give in except for that one logical voice in the back of his head telling him that kissing only made things worse. Only made it hurt that much more in the end. "Sora, I…I don't want to make things harder for us."

"Just…just for today, then. Please," the brunet whispered, already wrapping his arms around Riku's neck, probably knowing as well as Riku did that he wouldn't be able to hold back.

The same desperation as before lingered in both of their actions, pushing them back onto the bed as their kisses became more and more heated. The need to be with the other was taking over everything else, all rhyme and reason melting away. They didn't dare to speak, knowing that if they did they would be forced to pull themselves back into reality.

Sora didn't protest as Riku began kissing his neck, fumbling with the zipper on his shirt. His judgment seemed to be long gone, lost a little bit each time Riku's lips touched his skin. All he knew was that he wanted this, wanted Riku.

It was a different kind of warmth he was feeling now, more like he was on fire, Riku's touch burning his skin.

Clothes were beginning to be shed, and even Sora's embarrassment was muted by the much stronger feelings overwhelming him as Riku ran his tongue over his body, fingers playing at the hem of his boxers.

Part of him was still trying to fight it, trying to tell him that this wasn't going to fill the hole that would soon be inside of him. And he _knew_ this, knew it was right, but…

"You're so beautiful," Riku murmured, leaning down to kiss him. And this time it wasn't fervent or passionate…it was just pure and gentle, achingly sweet.

"Sora?" the older boy asked in concern, and the brunet realized numbly that he was crying again.

"I love you," Sora said thickly, his chest aching so much that he felt like he would explode if he kept his feelings inside. "I love you." He couldn't understand why it had taken him so long to see this, why it hadn't been this clear before. Why was he being taken away now that he finally realized it?

"I love you too," Riku murmured, lips brushing the hollow of Sora's neck as he spoke. The brunet's senses were lost again as kisses were trailed down his chest, Riku's tongue flicking out over a nipple experimentally at the same time as his hand dipped below the hemline.

"Ahh!"

Everything except the feeling of Riku's fingers seemed to drift away, replaced by the sudden wave of pleasure washing over him. The rest was a blur, boxers slipping off around his ankles, tentative touches becoming steadier, a hot tongue caressing him…

Sora moaned, fingers clenching into the sheets desperately, looking for a hold on anything as the pressure built inside of him, ready to burst…

"Riku!"

Fingers loosened their grip, relaxing slightly as the pressure was released, and Sora flopped limply onto the pillows, tremors shivering down his spine. Soft lips found his again and Sora sighed, melting into the kiss.

"I want you," Riku said in a low voice, aquamarine eyes gazing into his intently.

Sora flushed, realizing what he meant.

"Then take me."

His heart was screaming at him to stop, telling him that this had already gone too far. He was drowning in these feelings, overwhelmed by everything happening too fast, and he knew that this wasn't how it should be. But the hole was already forming, and he needed to fill it while he still could, needed to have Riku in every way possible, needed to do anything to ease the ache, even if it would only make it stronger in the end…

He squeezed his eyes shut, squirming in discomfort as something entered him.

"Are you okay?" Riku asked softly.

Sora nodded, trying to focus on Riku's voice, trying to memorize everything…

Another finger entered and Sora gasped, fingernails digging into Riku's back.

"If you ever want to stop…just tell me. I don't want to hurt you, Sora," the older boy said, fingers picking up a steady rhythm.

Sora nodded again, but all focus was lost once more as Riku brushed something inside of him, causing him to gasp and arch up instinctively, moving into the touch. Riku smiled, pushing into Sora a few more times before pulling away, much to the younger boy's dismay.

But then pain took away all else, feeling as if something was being torn apart, and Sora cried out, wondering if this was how much it was going to hurt when he was gone.

But he knew it would be a million times worse.

Because Riku wouldn't be there to murmur soft apologies in his ear, to kiss his forehead gently, to promise that it was going to get better. And it _wouldn't_ get better, not without Riku.

Tears were streaming down again, and Sora realized that it wasn't from the pain, which was now melting away as Riku continuously hit that spot inside of him, causing thrills of pleasure to course through his body again. But Sora didn't care anymore, only cared that it was _Riku_ there, _Riku_ inside him, _Riku _telling him that he loved him.

And then it was over, Sora left with only a numb feeling of the aftermath as Riku collapsed on top of him heavily. But Sora wasn't bothered by the weight, wrapping his arms tightly around the older boy and keeping his eyes open as long as he could to watch him.

When he woke up, Riku was gone.

oOoOo

**Author's Notes: **Oh jeez, I don't even know where to start . Erm, I'll just go in order, then…so there we have the plot twist: Sora's leaving. Do you all hate me now? 'Cause honestly I wouldn't really blame you XD It's not the most original thing in the world, I know, but I didn't want like some over-dramatic soap opera-y thing to happen…I wanted something realistic.

And then we have…the lemon. –blushes- I feel like such a pervert right now XD I mean, as far as lemons go it wasn't _that_ graphic, but it's still a lot for me, and I'm a little bit squirmish over it. I know it was rushed, but then again that was kind of the point. I just tried to focus more on the emotional aspect rather than the physical. Hopefully it worked well enough?

Man, I keep not liking my chapters anymore. Maybe I'm just getting more critical. Or maybe this story is just getting crappier. Whatever.

Thanks again to my lovely reviewers, old and new: **Vampire Ballerina**, **pichu10176**, **Muchacha, Kurama's death angel, animeobsession, Kagome1514, EcstasyofSesshoumaru, Syreoix, **and **Wolfgirl21. **Lol, so I've noticed that I've gotten more reviews in the chapters where there's SoraxRiku action, so I'm wondering what'll happen with the lemon-y chapter. Except actually I prefer writing the mushy kissing scenes rather than the lemon…I'm too young to be writing this kind of thing XD

-E.M.M.Y.

Okay, so squirmish isn't a word…oops. It's like squeamish and squirmy all jumbled together into 9 letters of awesomeness. It's a word from now on.

In _my_ dictionary.


	10. Chapter 10: Absence Follows

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**: Meh…it won't get any more graphic than the last chapter, so just some swearing. It's all good.

**Chapter 10:**_ Skin touching skin; absence follows_

Riku opened his eyes to the small brunet still fast asleep next to him, breath slowly rising and falling. The older boy watched the peaceful scene quietly, not wanting to wake Sora and face the repercussions of what they had just done.

Truthfully, he was terrified. He knew that they had gotten too caught up in the moment, had made a mistake that they couldn't take back. And in a way, it had felt like they were already saying goodbye.

_Two weeks left._ They could still be together for the remaining time, but underlying every touch, every kiss, would be the knowledge that this would all be taken away soon. Or this could end it all, they could stop before they got even more involved, could stop before it became unbearable to let go.

Riku already knew what they had to do. Dragging it out would only be a brief illusion of happiness. Even if it had the potential to become the best two weeks of his life, it would break them both in the end.

Sora moved in his sleep, subconsciously shifting closer to the silver-haired boy. "Riku," he murmured softly, before settling back into his light slumber with a little sigh.

It was over before it even began.

Riku got up cautiously, trying to disturb the sleeping boy as little as possible. He gathered his clothes from where they lay scattered on the floor, pulling them on with bated breath as he watched Sora. But the brunet was unaware of his stirrings, only curling up a bit tighter as his source of warmth was taken away.

Once dressed, he moved back to the edge of the bed, pulling the blanket gently over the boy he loved, eyes softening as Sora snuggled deeply into it. Then he leaned over to kiss the top of Sora's head, murmuring a soft goodbye in his ear.

oOoOo

"Let's break up."

Bright green eyes widened, pain and shock flashing through them. "What the hell are you talking about, Roxas?"

The blond looked away, knowing that he would break if he met that gaze for too long. "It was fun while it lasted Axel, but everyone knows you never stay in a relationship long. I think I'd rather look for somebody more serious, that's all," Roxas said, his voice sounding strange and distant, like it was coming from somebody else.

Now the redhead's eyes narrowed, jaw set firmly as he cupped the smaller boy's cheek, forcing Roxas to look at him. "You think I'm not serious about you?" Axel asked in a tight voice, eyes flickering across the blond's face, searching for the emotions well-hidden underneath Roxas's façade.

But Roxas had been preparing for this, and he managed to keep his expression blank despite the aching pull at his heart. "Of course you're not," he said, forcing a humorless laugh. "Come on, Axel, you know as well as I do that this would never go anywhere. So let's just break up now…it'll save you the trouble of people beginning to think you're turning into a softie," he grinned, ignoring the protest of his facial muscles that had no desire to be turning upward into this false smile.

"Well maybe I am," Axel said fiercely, leaning forward so that their faces were merely a few inches apart. "Roxas, I…"

_Don't. Please don't._ Roxas squeezed his eyes shut, feeling it becoming harder to keep up this stupid charade.

"I love you."

"Don't _say_ that!" Roxas choked, barrier coming crashing down as soon as the first teardrop broke through. He started pushing Axel away, but strong arms quickly wrapped around him, keeping him from getting loose.

"Why not? It's the truth, Roxas…I'm serious about you," the redhead murmured. "Why can't you believe that?"

"Just let me go," the blond pleaded, still fighting the urge to just bury his face in Axel's chest and cry his heart out.

"No," Axel stated firmly. "Not until you tell me what's going on."

Something that sounded like a mix between a sob and a frustrated noise escaped Roxas's lips as he began to struggle against the older boy's tight hold on him. "We can't see each other anymore! We can't! So just…" finally he managed to wriggle through Axel's arms, twisting his small body away as the redhead tried to catch him again.

"Damn it, Roxas!" Axel forcefully grabbed the younger boy's upper arm before Roxas could start running, and for a moment everything stopped as Axel kissed him.

Roxas remained perfectly still, not kissing back but not fighting it, until the redhead pulled away. Axel took in the sight of the blond's tears streaming freely down his cheeks, eyes closed tightly as he trembled, biting back the tiny sobs trying to come out.

"We can't."

oOoOo

Matching sets of blue eyes met across the room, both red and puffy and lacking their usual brilliance. There was no need for either of them to ask what had happened; it was obvious enough to both boys.

"Mom says we should start packing," Roxas said hoarsely, setting some empty cardboard boxes down on the ground. He began taking books off of the shelves, carelessly tossing them inside one of the boxes. Sora got up and joined him, restacking the ones his brother had already thrown in.

"Rox…do you want to talk about it?" the brunet asked tentatively.

Roxas paused momentarily, fingers shaking around the spine of a small paperback. "No. It…it doesn't matter anymore."

Sora opened his mouth to protest, then promptly shut it again, wondering if this was actually a better way to approach the situation. After all, it seemed he had no choice but to move on…

But Roxas began speaking again, contradicting his own words. "Axel, he…he said he loves me. That was the first time he told me and I…all I could do was push him away," he whispered, very slowly continuing to pull the book out of the shelf. "I must've hurt him so much."

He sharply thrust the book towards Sora, face hidden from view. But the brunet didn't miss the damp spot now present on the cover as he stacked it on top of the others.

"Roxas…" Sora began.

"Don't! So you've made out with Riku, big deal. But you have no idea what this is like for me! I _love_ him, Sora! So don't try to act like you understand," Roxas said harshly, pushing another book towards his brother.

They lapsed into silence except for the barely repressed sniffles coming from Sora, sending waves of guilt through the blond. He knew that it was stupid to be taking it out on his brother when none of it was Sora's fault, and he knew that his brother would never kiss someone he didn't love. But he just needed some way to release his emotions, and for some reason he couldn't tell Axel. It would be better if the redhead would just hate him…then they could stay away from each other until it was time to leave for good…

"I'm sorry," Roxas said quietly. "It's just…I don't want to leave, Sor."

"I know," the brunette whispered. "Neither do I."

oOoOo

School the next morning seemed rather surreal to the brunet, as if it was just part of some dream where he was simply going through the motions. He listened during class, but the information passed through him without any opinion or emotional attachment, and was lost as soon as he left the classroom. In fact, the only reason he forced himself to pay attention in class was to look for any kind of distraction. His sense of dread grew with every second the clock came closer to lunch, because he knew that as soon as he saw Riku he would have to face that it was over.

His feet seemed like they were made of lead as he began making his way towards the cafeteria, and he knew that it would be rather difficult to get anything past the lump in his throat. Sora had never felt more uncertain of what to do around the older boy, even just after being confessed to. Were they just supposed to ignore each other, go on with their lives and pretend it had never happened?

He couldn't do it. He just couldn't. Sora began to slow down, until coming to a complete halt. Roxas looked back at him, understanding in his eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sora said quietly. "I'm just not hungry, that's all. I'll see you guys later." With that he began walking the other way, the only one moving against the flow of students going on with their lives. But all he wanted was to run away, far, far away.

If only he knew that he would just be running into his problem.

"Sora?"

With a thud, the brunet fell backwards, once again hit with the sense that he was far too small to ever make an impact on this boy. Riku could stand upright and keep walking forwards with hardly a break in his stride, while time and time again Sora would fall down and struggle just to get up again.

Suddenly Sora began laughing, a strange, hollow sound when it was far from happy. "Jeez, are you the only person I ever run into? Heck, if I hadn't the first time, none of this ever would've happened. We wouldn't have to…" his laughter faded, replaced by salty tears falling on the floor, his head bent low to avoid looking at Riku. He didn't want to see what kind of expression was on his face, he didn't want to accept what was happening…

"Sora, I…I'll never regret meeting you. Even if all of this is happening now, no matter how much it hurts…I was just happy to be with you. I love you, Sora…I think I always will," Riku murmured, a sad smile on his face.

"Stop, Riku," Sora breathed. "I don't want to hear it."

For a moment the older boy remained still, unsure of what to do. Then he turned, walking away without ever offering Sora his hand.

_Because when you say it, it sounds like goodbye._

oOoOo

**Author's Notes: **Well, happy _belated_ 1 month anniversary, _FWR_. I wrote this at super-speed last night to get it out on time, but then I got some kind of friggin processing error when I tried to add it. Which means I lost a good chunk of sleep for nothing, dammit. :o I bite my thumb at you, mr. website! (hey...how come we can't say the actual name? XD)

Heck, I don't even know why I care…I just like celebrating things XD

Um…well I don't really care much about this chapter either way…except the beginning. I like the beginning. :3 It was kinda just pointless filler crap that I felt should be in here somewhere, but I didn't want to end it in this chapter…so it ended up on its own as a very very short chapter. The next one will be the last, and I promise to make it longer than usual to make up for this one. It might take me awhile to get out though because I'm very picky about endings, as I think most people are. So I'm well aware that not everyone will be happy with the way it ends, but at the very least it's going to be well-written! Or at least as well-written as an ickle freshie such as myself can manage :D

Shout-out time! **Kagome1514, Elle-Sempai, pichu10176, Muchacha, EcstasyOfSesshoumaru, Blushed Boi, Syeroix, **and **VampireBallerina**: Thank you all for reviewing again! It means a lot to me to have such continuous support throughout this past month. You guys (and everyone else who has reviewed in the past) are my motivation. Much love.

And now, I must do homework. Hooray.

-Emmy –scurries away in a blur of sparkles and wonder-


	11. Chapter 11: One More Day With You

**Disclaimer**: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, then I would be making Riku pin Sora down and start kissing him senseless in the _game_, not writing a crappy fanfic about it.

**Warning**:…slight overdoses of cheese and-or fluff? Ew…fluffy cheese . Gruesome.

**Chapter 11:**_ One More Day With You_

_I never knew how easy it was to let time slip through my fingers._

_But then again…you're the only thing I've ever been so afraid of losing._

_Sora._

"Sugisaki-san?" came a loud, harsh voice followed by an exaggerated clearing of a throat. Riku blinked, looking up at the source of the noise.

"As grateful as I am that you are actually staying inside the classroom for once, I'd prefer that you'd _participate_ as well. Open your textbook, Sugisaki-san, and please stay back after class. I'd like a word with you," clipped Mr. Leonheart, Riku's history teacher, in an irritated voice.

"Yes, sir," Riku mumbled, flipping through his book as the older man walked back towards the front of the classroom, although he didn't have the faintest idea of what page they were on.

_"I don't want to hear it."_

Sora's words played over and over in his mind, cutting him a bit more each time. Was that really the way they were going to let things end? Without even a proper goodbye, just pushing each other away until even their few happy memories became laced with this aching loneliness?

He couldn't let that happen…he wanted his memories of Sora to remain pure, untouched. But he knew that would be impossible if things kept going on like this.

_One week left._

oOoOo

"Let's have a moving away party!" Kairi's enthusiastic voice cut through the heavy atmosphere of lunch between the four friends, although even the redhead strained to keep up her cheerfulness these days. Both girls had had a hard time accepting the news, given the fact that they had been friends with Sora and Roxas almost their entire lives.

Sora tried to smile at the girl, although his attempt all but failed miserably. "Thanks, Kai…but we really don't need anything like that. We've barely got time to finish packing."

Kairi scowled and the table lapsed back into silence except for the sounds of the other three eating. "I…I really hate this, you know! We're running out of time together here and I'm sick of this quiet depressing crap! Come on guys…I just want our last memories to be happy ones," the redhead said, violet eyes watering slightly, although she quickly blinked this away.

Sora reached across the table and squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Yeah…let's do it then," he said softly, this time managing a genuine, albeit sad, smile. "Just…keep it small okay?" the brunet requested, glancing over at his brother who gave a silent nod.

"Sure!" Kairi said brightly. "Then let's see…of course we'll have the four of us, then there's Tidus, Wakka, Paine…" however the rest of her list was drowned out by the rapidly increasing thumps of Sora's heart as he caught sight of Riku walking towards them. He could feel his palm growing sweaty in Kairi's hand, and suddenly his mouth went dry…yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from the silver-haired boy.

They hadn't eaten with Riku or Axel at all the past week…hadn't even _talked _to them. It was easy enough to avoid them since they were a year older, but that didn't stop chance meetings in the halls resulting in chaste glances that were studiously ignored, or gazes that lingered just a second too long…

But overall time had passed without any confrontation, and Sora tried to keep the older boy at the back of his mind as much as he could. It wasn't easy, but he knew he had to try…he couldn't let everything come crashing down just because Riku was staring straight at him, aquamarine eyes holding an aching sadness about them…

"I need to talk to you," he said quietly, arriving at their table after what had seemed like an eternity.

Sora tried to find his voice but failed, instead moistening his lips nervously. His hand was growing uncomfortably warm in Kairi's, and his other was fidgeting nervously in his lap.

"Go away," Roxas hissed suddenly, startling the others. Sora caught a flash of pain cross Riku's features before the brunet looked away, unable to bear it.

"I'll only go if Sora wants me to," Riku replied steadily, glancing briefly at the blond before flicking his gaze back to the other boy.

_I don't want you to go. I could never want that…_

"Go, then," Sora said in a cracked voice, tears stinging at the eyes he kept so carefully averted from Riku's as he pushed him away.

Riku turned silently, taking a step in the other direction before stopping short. "I…I'll wait four years, if that's how long it takes. And I don't care if it's only one week left. I don't care if it's one day, or one minute or…or one _second_. I just want to be with you, Sora."

Sora looked up to see him begin to walk away again. He stood up abruptly, releasing Kairi's hand and yelling, "Wait, Riku! Don't…I don't want you to…," and suddenly he was being enveloped of warm arms, oblivious to the stares coming from everyone in the cafeteria.

Because none of it mattered with Riku there.

"Come with me," he said softly in Sora's ear, before unwrapping his arms and grabbing his hand instead. Wordlessly the brunet let Riku lead him out of the cafeteria, his half-eaten lunch long forgotten at this point. He knew it was wrong, allowing everything to go back to square one, but at the same time…he knew that they needed some kind of closure.

They had never even officially ended things at this point, and it wasn't that he _wanted_ to, but he knew that they couldn't just keep going on like this for another week, without any idea of what they were doing.

Sora barely even noticed when they arrived onto the roof, and nearly rammed face-first into Riku's back.

"Er…should we…sit, then?" the silver-haired boy asked uncertainly, and Sora suddenly had the impression that Riku hadn't been expecting him to give in.

"Yeah," he said, sliding down the wall with a sigh. "Riku…what exactly are we doing?"

"I have no idea," the older boy murmured, joining the brunet on the ground.

They gazed at each other for a moment, and Riku began to find it very hard to keep the small distance between them. "I guess we should…talk," he suggested, although it sounded almost more like a question than a statement.

"Right," Sora said awkwardly. Silence followed, completely defeating the purpose of their decision.

Riku cleared his throat. "Look, I know before…at your house, when we…," he flushed, "well, you know…anyway I know I said that it would be hard to wait…but I can't…I can't just let you go. I…I'm not saying that we can't be involved with other people, or that we have to stay in touch, or anything like that…it's just, I want to see you again. I don't want things to just end this way," he said quietly.

"I don't either, Riku…but what does that even mean, then? We can see other people, we won't necessarily talk to each other for the entire time…and then when I come back, we'll just get back together?" Sora attempted to sum up the conversation. "That's…is that really any different than what would probably happen anyway?"

Riku blinked, then pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning. "Okay…well maybe we shouldn't be worrying about what's going to happen then…let's just focus on _now_. I can't keep doing this whole 'pretend he doesn't exist and move on with your life' thing. I don't know about you, but it's not working all that well for me."

"I hate it, Riku…I miss you, and I'm not even gone yet," Sora said, laughing sadly. "Why are we doing this?"

"Because we're both idiots…?" Riku suggested.

Sora grinned, leaning his head on Riku's shoulder. "I think we are," he murmured.

Riku stiffened as the smaller boy shifted closer to him. Sora seemed to notice this as well and looked up at him questioningly. "Is this okay then?"

Riku wrapped an arm around him, pulling him in closer. "Yeah…if this is our last week together…then I don't want any regrets. I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too," Sora replied, before their lips met softly.

Maybe some things in life were just meant to be bittersweet.

oOoOo

"Um…so what exactly is their…relationship?" Kairi asked, still staring at the spot the two boys had embraced minutes after they had left.

"Who the hell knows at this point…," Roxas said mildly.

"But does that mean at one point they were…?" Selphie questioned, eyes wide.

"Yup," the blond sighed. "Doesn't matter anymore…"

Kairi's gaze shot to the boy, eyes flashing. "Roxas, how can you even say that? When two people are in love, they should do their best to stay together, no matter what! So don't just sit here and pretend that this is all 'for the best' or whatever when you know that you want to be with Axel!"

Selphie gaped at her friend in surprise of Kairi's sudden boldness, while Roxas gulped, his throat tightening. "Yeah, I want to be with him, Kai…but I _can't_," he whispered.

Kairi smiled sadly. "But you can't just let things end like this either, Rox. You have to let him know how you feel. You'll only regret it if you don't."

oOoOo

The rest of the week seemed to pass one step at a time, tentative and carefully measured. Both Sora and Riku were unsure of where the boundaries lay at this point, and they were slightly hesitant about finding out. They knew that letting themselves lose control of their feelings again was out of the question, so they kept it to soft touches of the hands and gentle kisses every now and then.

Mostly their time only consisted of walking home together, mainly due to Roxas living up to his stubborn streak. He still hadn't talked to Axel since he had ended things, so Riku sat with the redhead on their own at lunch, although Sora didn't miss the reluctant glances frequently cast in his direction.

It was hard, being together but knowing that soon it would be over. Although it was much better than forcing themselves to be apart early on, there was still a certain sadness that lingered in their actions.

Uncertainty seemed to be growing in the brunet. He had accepted that he was leaving…but now it was the time apart that made him wish his walks home with Riku could last forever. He realized of course that Riku had been with a lot of girls before him…but he hadn't really though of anyone coming _after_ him until now. What was going to happen during the next four years? Would he move on, too?

Normally moving on would seem like a welcome prospect-it was the healthy thing to do, he could be a lot happier…but the thought of being with anyone else, the thought of _Riku _being with anyone else…it was unbearable.

"Riku…do you think things were meant to happen like this?" Sora asked softly, fingers laced tightly through the older boy's as they made their way home on Friday.

"I wish they weren't," Riku replied, smiling sadly. "But maybe…maybe it's a good thing. I mean, first loves don't usually work out at this age…maybe we were just meant to meet again when we're older. In a way, I guess ending it like this may be for the best…I was thinking awhile ago that I didn't want my memories of you to change at all…at least this way we're parting with our feeling still intact. Being able to have something so simple and pure, without any jealousy or bitterness or anything…I guess we're kind of lucky. Think of how happy we'll be when we finally see each other again," he said, squeezing Sora's hand gently.

"Riku…" Sora said softly.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you sound like you're speaking from some kind of cheesy romance novel?" the brunet giggled.

The older boy flushed. "It's the truth!...at least for me it is," he mumbled in embarrassment.

"No...I'm glad. I really am lucky…even if it's not for forever, having you by my side…I don't regret it," Sora said, standing on tiptoes to kiss Riku on the cheek.

"Now who sounds cheesy?" Riku teased.

"But you love me for it," Sora replied, laughing.

The silver-haired boy smiled. "Yeah. I do."

oOoOo

The next day Sora and Roxas arrived at Kairi's house, where the moving party had been planned due to the fact that the twins' was practically empty at this point, ready be left behind the next day. The redhead greeted them both with suffocating hugs as soon as they walked in, tears in the corners of her eyes.

"Oh, jeez, I don't mean to be such a sap," she sniffled, hurriedly wiping them on her sleeve when she and Roxas broke apart. "It's just…I can't believe you guys are really leaving."

"We'll come back, Kai," Sora assured. "Destiny Islands…it's home, no matter what."

"It just won't be the same without you," Kairi murmured sadly. "You better not get too comfortable in this Hollow Bastion place, got it?" she warned, managing a grin through her tears.

"Are you kidding me? Like this guy'll be able to stay away from the beach any longer…we're definitely not leaving this place for good, Kai," Roxas said.

Kairi beamed. "Good…oh and Rox, I've got a little surprise for you," she said in a sing-song voice, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the livingroom where a few of their friends were gathered. But Roxas didn't even register the faces of any of them save for one…_Axel_.

Immediately he began pulling Kairi back down the hallway, stopping once they were out of sight from the others. "What the hell is he doing here?" he hissed.

"Roxas, you have to tell him the truth. Do you really want your last memory of him to be breaking his heart?" Kairi challenged.

The blond faltered, not prepared for this. "Jeez…do you dish out the guilt trips or what?" he muttered.

"Seriously, Rox! He _loves_ you…and these past few weeks he's made you happier than I've seen you in a long time! How can you just let that all go for your pride? If…if you don't tell him how you really feel, I'll never talk to you again!" she said childishly, crossing her arms in a huff.

Suddenly Roxas pulled her into a hug, startling the redhead. "It's just…I…I don't want to say goodbye," he whispered.

"Then…don't, Rox. Say 'I love you' or 'I'll miss you' or…or 'See you later, Axel!'…you _will_ see him again, Rox. Goodbyes don't always last forever," she murmured, patting his back.

They broke apart, Kairi catching the boy briefly wiping his eyes. "Can I go get him then?" she asked softly.

Roxas nodded silently, and the redhead grinned, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek. "It'll be okay, Rox," she said, before skipping back down the hall towards the livingroom.

It seemed like an eternity later when Axel emerged, sighing softly when his eyes met with the blond's. "I figured by this point you'd be long gone," he said quietly, closing the distance between them.

They stood face to face, Roxas strongly fighting the urge to start crying. A moment passed in silence, which finally Axel broke. "This is usually the part where you say someth-," but he was cut short as Roxas threw his arms around his neck, burying his face in Axel's chest.

"I love you," he said in a muffled voice. "I'm so sorry that I didn't just tell you before…I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you so much, Axel."

Axel gently pulled Roxas apart, kneeling down and cupping the blond's cheeks, who at this point was sobbing and hiccupping, eyes red and tears streaming down. "Hey, hey, hey…now that's not a very pretty face, Roxie. You've gotta smile," the redhead admonished lightly. "If I'm not gonna see anybody else for four years, then I better be able to tell everyone how hot the kid I'm waiting for is, and that's not going to happen with this last mental picture."

Axel wasn't entirely sure if he had gotten Roxas to laugh or if the boy had just started crying harder, but after some kind of choked noise the blond said, "Y-you don't have to wait. It's too long, just…"

But Axel interrupted him with a gentle kiss on the forehead. "Look, Rox, I'm not exactly the type who falls in love that easily…so when you come back you're going to have to take responsibility for turning me into such a sap, got it? And until then, I'll just have to wait," he said, smiling softly.

Roxas sniffled, flushing. "W-well if that's what you want, I guess…" he said stubbornly.

Axel grinned, leaning in to kiss him softly on the lips. "I love you, Rox."

"I love you, too," Roxas whispered.

oOoOo

The afternoon passed fairly quickly, and after many sad goodbyes the friends began to part. Sora was the last to make his way out of the house, finding it extremely difficult to escape from Kairi's last embrace. He found Riku waiting for him on the front step, and with a sad smile he laced his fingers through the older boy's, and they began their last walk home.

"That's got to have been the most depressing party I've ever been to," Riku muttered. "They act like you're dying."

Sora laughed. "Well if you'd prefer to have me cheer Wakka up by telling him I'll wait as long as it takes just to see him again…"

"That's okay," Riku said quickly, laughing as well.

They walked in silence for a moment, turning onto Sora's street, only the next one over from Kairi's. "I'm really going to miss this place," the brunet said sadly.

"You'll love it even more when you finally come home," Riku said softly.

They arrived at the brunet's house, stopping in front of the walkway.

"So…I guess this is it," Sora murmured.

Riku replied slowly. "I guess it is."

"Then, um…I should…" the brunet said incoherently, trying to focus on something other than the stinging in his eyes. He didn't want to start crying again, not now…

"I guess you should go," the older boy finished quietly.

"Yeah," Sora whispered.

Riku leaned down to kiss him slowly, once again trying to memorize every part of the boy so that he would never forget…

They broke apart reluctantly, a tear finally slipping down Sora's cheek. "We'll meet again, Sor. It's a promise," Riku said with a smile, brushing the tear away with his fingertip.

"Good...I'm not the type to break a promise, you know," the brunet said meekly.

"Neither am I," Riku murmured.

"Bye, Riku," Sora whispered.

"Bye, Sora," the older boy replied.

Because goodbyes aren't for forever, but promises are.

oOoOo

**Author's Notes: **Okay, I know that it's _long_ overdue, but finally the ending is here! I almost decided to take even longer to think of a better last line, but sadly I couldn't (except now it just sounds like one of my oneshots…meh). I'm not _entirely_ thrilled with the end, but it was either this, more angst, or the magically-craptastic-cheese-in-a-can version where suddenly Sora doesn't have to move, he and Riku graduate high school, get married, and make beautiful babies together. (Seriously…mpreg fics? Do we _really_ want mental images of Sora giving birth?) But overall I'm very proud of my first little story, and I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

On that note I would like to thank all of the lovely reviewers of this story-whether you've been with me since chapter 1 or only just recently discovered it, I learned so much from your reviews and they were just so motivating each time. I can't thank you guys enough…so you all get ginormous uber-chocolate-y cookies of doom.

Ah, I just realized I forgot to mention a sequel. At this point it's up for consideration, but I haven't decided yet...it's been very back and forth ever since I decided the ending(which was actually a long time ago). I really do think I'd have fun writing a reunion, but the reason I didn't make this fic any longer was because I wanted to avoid the cliches that generally come out when a story is dragged on forever, and I'm afraid that's what would happen with a sequel. So please mention if you're for or against, and I'm also open to any ideas you may have for one. If I can think of a plot line that would make it worthwhile, I'm willing to do it. Sankyuu :)

With lots of love (as always),  
Emmy


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